Avisail Garcia Hits 1st Career Home Run in a 7-5 Tigers Loss

The Detroit Tigers lost to the Houston Astros today 7-5.

The Astros took a quick 1-0 lead today, but the Tigers responded in the 2nd inning with a walk from Jhonny Peralta, then a single from Matt Tuiasosopo to set up runners on 1st and 3rd for Brayan Pena who hit an infield single to score Peralta. Avisail Garcia came up next and hit a 3-run home run to give the Tigers a 4-1 lead; it's his first career home run.

The Astros came back in the 4th inning to take a 5-4 lead, but the Tigers responded in the 6th inning with Victor Martinez reaching base on a fielding error, then a base hit from Jhonny Peralta to put runners on 1st and 2nd for Matt Tuiasosopo who hit a single to drive in Martinez and the game was tied 5-5.

Max Scherzer gave up 4 runs in the 4th inning, but after that he settled down. He pitched 7 innings giving up 5 runs on 5 hits, walking 3 and striking out 7 batters.

Drew Smyly came in for relief and got the first 2 outs of the 8th inning, then Al Alburquerque came in to get the last out of the inning. Alburquerque came back out for the 9th inning, but walked the first batter and was pulled. Phil Coke replaced him and quickly gave up an inherited run, and the Astros went on to score another run off of Coke to take a 7-5 lead.

The Tigers attempted to rally in the 9th inning (despite allowing Don Kelly to pinch hit). With 1 out, Brayan Pena drew a walk, advanced to 2nd base on defensive indifference, then Omar Infante drew a walk to put runners on 1st and 2nd for Torii Hunter who was hit by the pitch after being down in the count 0-2. With the bases loaded and 2 outs, Miguel Cabrera came up and hit a ball to the edge of the warning track in right-center field, but it ended the game.

The Tigers open up a 3 game road series with the Rangers tomorrow as Justin Verlander (4-3 1.93 ERA) pitches against Yu Darvish (6-1 2.73 ERA).

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Andy Dirks' Grand Slam Helps the Tigers in a 7-2 Win

The Detroit Tigers beat the Houston Astros tonight 7-2.

The Tigers scored first today in the bottom of the 1st inning after Andy Dirks hit a leadoff double, then Torii Hunter hit a double to drive in Dirks and the Tigers had a 1-0 lead.

The Astros took a 2-1 lead, but the Tigers responded in the 4th inning with a double from Prince Fielder, then a 2-run home run by Victor Martinez; it's his 2nd of the season. After singles from Jhonny Peralta and Don Kelly, Omar Infante drew a walk to load the bases for Andy Dirks who hit a grand slam home run to give the Tigers a 7-2 lead; it's his 3rd of the season.

Anibal Sanchez pitched well tonight. He pitched 7 innings, giving up 2 runs on 6 hits, walking 1 and striking out 8 batters; he earned his 4th win of the season.

Jose Ortega came in for relief and pitched a scoreless 8th inning, then Ortega came back out and pitched a scorless 9th inning to get the Tigers the win.

The Tigers continue their series with the Astros tomorrow as Doug Fister (4-1 3.14 ERA) faces Lucas Harrell (3-3 4.67 ERA).

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Justin Verlander Pitches 7 Shutout Innings in a 9-0 Tigers Win

The Detroit Tigers beat the Houston Astros today 9-0.

The Tigers scored quickly in the 1st inning after Andy Dirks hit a single, then Prince Fielder hit a 2-run home run to give the Tigers a 2-0 lead; it's his 8th of the season.

The Tigers added to their lead in the 2nd inning after Don Kelly drew a walk, then Brayan Pena hit a 2-run home run; it's his 1st of the season. Ramon Santiago then hit a double, Austin Jackson drew a walk, and Andy Dirks hit a single to drive in Santiago. Miguel Cabrera was up next and drew a walk to load the bases for Prince Fielder who hit a single to drive in Jackson and Dirks to give the Tigers a 7-0 lead.

Andy Dirks extended the Tigers lead in the 4th inning after a solo home run; it's his 2nd of the season and the Tigers took a 8-0 lead.

Justin Verlander was outstanding today. He didn't give up a hit until the 7th inning. Verlander ended up pitching 7 scoreless innings today, giving up only 2 hits, walking 2 and striking out 9 batters; he earned his 4th win of the season.

Omar Infante added another run for the Tigers in the 8th inning with a solo home run; it's his 4th of the season and the Tigers took a 9-0 lead.

Darin Downs came in for relief and pitched a scoreless 8th inning. Downs came back out and pitched a scoreless 9th inning to get the Tigers the win.

The Tigers have an off day tomorrow, but open up a 2 game road series with the Nationals on Tuesday as Anibal Sanchez (3-2 1.82 ERA) pitches against Jordan Zimmermann (5-1 1.64 ERA).

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Miguel Cabrera Hits 2 Home Runs in a 17-2 Tigers Victory

The Detroit Tigers beat the Houston Astros tonight 17-2.

The Tigers scored quickly in the 1st inning tonight after singles by Austin Jackson and Torii Hunter to put runners on 1st and 3rd for Miguel Cabrera who hit a single to drive in Jackson. After Prince Fielder was called out on strikes on a pitch well out of the zone, Victor Martinez came up with runners on 1st and 3rd and hit a double to drive in Hunter and Cabrera, then Jhonny Peralta hit a bloop single to drive in Martinez and the Tigers had a 4-0 lead.

The Tigers added to their lead in the 2nd inning after Torii Hunter had an infield single, stole 2nd base, then Miguel Cabrera hit a 2-run home run to give the Tigers a 6-0 lead; it's his 5th of the season.

Detroit added to their lead in the 4th inning after a walk to Alex Avila, single from Omar Infante, and walk to Torii Hunter to load the bases with 1 out for Miguel Cabrera who was walked to force in Avila. Prince Fielder should've drawn a walk, but was called out on strikes after another bad call by home plate umpire Scott Barry; it was a 7-0 game after the top of the 4th.

The Tigers continued to score in the 5th inning after a walk to Andy Dirks, who scored on a double from Alex Avila and it was a 8-0 game.

Miguel Cabrera got the Tigers another run in the 6th inning after a solo home run; it's his 2nd of the night, 6th of the season, and gave the Tigers a 9-0 lead.

The Tigers continued to score in the 7th inning after singles by Alex Avila and Austin Jackson, then Torii Hunter hit a single to drive in Avila. Miguel Cabrera came up next and hit a single to drive in Jackson, then Prince Fielder hit a single of his own to drive in Hunter.

After Carlos Corporan hit a home run for the Astros to make it a 12-1 game, Detroit quickly came back with a triple from Andy Dirks who scored on a Jhonny Peralta double. Peralta then advanced to 3rd on a ground out, and scored on a ground ball off the bat of Omar Infante who reached base via a fielding error. Due to the error, Torii Hunter was able to drive in Infante after a double and the Tigers led 15-1.

Matt Tuiasosopo led off the 9th inning with a single, then Victor Martinez hit a 2-run home run; it's his 1st of the season and the Tigers had a 17-1 lead.

Max Scherzer was terrific tonight. He pitched 8 innings, giving up 1 run on 3 hits, walking 2 and striking out 8 batters; he earned his 4th win of the season.

Al Alburquerque came in for relief and gave up 1 run in the 9th inning, but the Tigers still won comfortably.

The Tigers finish their series with the Astros tomorrow as Justin Verlander (3-2 1.83 ERA) takes on Philip Humber (0-6 7.58 ERA).

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Alex Avila's 9th Inning Home Run gets the Tigers a 4-3 Win

The Detroit Tigers beat the Houston Astros tonight 4-3.

The Tigers scored first tonight in the 2nd inning after Don Kelly reached on a fielders choice, stole 2nd base, then scored on a single from Jhonny Peralta which gave Detroit a 1-0 lead.

Detroit added to their lead in the 4th inning after Miguel Cabrera led the inning off with a double, reached 3rd base on a fly out, then scored on a single (which looked like a home run, but wasn't overturned after replay) from Victor Martinez to give the Tigers a 2-0 lead.

Everything went wrong in the bottom of the 7th though. Doug Fister didn't record an out and gave up 3 runs in the process. Fister pitched 6 innings tonight giving up 3 runs (2 earned) on 9 hits, walking 1 and striking out 4 batters.

Drew Smyly came in for relief and stranded 2 inherited runners to keep it a 3-2 game after 7 innings. Smyly came back out and pitched a scoreless 8th inning; Smyly ended up getting the win tonight.

The Tigers tried to rally in the 9th. Don Kelly led the inning off with a walk, then with 1 out, Alex Avila hit a 2-run home run to give the Tigers a 4-3 lead; it's his 4th of the season.

Jose Valverde came in and pitched a scoreless 9th inning to get his 3rd save of the season and he got the Tigers the win.

The Tigers play the 3rd game of a 4 game series vs the Astros tomorrow as Max Scherzer (3-0 4.02 ERA) goes up against Lucas Harrell (3-2 3.60 ERA).

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Don Kelly Gets Game Winning Hit in a 7-3 Extra Innings Win

The Detroit Tigers beat the Houston Astros tonight 7-3 in 14 innings.

The Astros were down 2-0 early, but responded in the 3rd inning with a double from Omar Infante, single from Austin Jackson to put runners on 1st and 3rd for Torii Hunter who hit a single to drive in Infante. Miguel Cabrera came up next and hit a single to drive in Jackson and it was a 2-2 game; it was Cabrera's 1000th hit as a Tiger, as Rick Thompson mentioned.

Rick Porcello went on to allow a run to put the Astros up 3-2, but he pitched a good game. He went 7 innings, giving up 3 runs on 5 hits, and striking out 7 batters.

The Tigers scored in the 8th inning after Prince Fielder was hit by the pitch, then Victor Martinez hit a single and Prince Fielder scored on a fielding error to make it a 3-3 game.

Jose Ortega came in for relief and pitched a scoreless 8th inning. Ortega came back out and pitched a scoreless 9th inning.

Joaquin Benoit came in and pitched a scoreless 10th inning.

In the 11th inning, Matt Tuiasosopo drew a walk, followed by a Jhonny Peralta single. With 2 outs, Brayan Pena pinch hit and hit a sharp single to right field, but Tuiasospo was thrown out at the plate by Rick Ankiel to keep it a 3-3 game.

Joaquin Benoit came back out and pitched a scoreless 11th inning. Darin Downs then came in and got the first 2 outs of the 12th inning, then Luke Putkonen got the final out of the inning.

Don Kelly led the 13th inning off with a double, then with 1 out, Jhonny Peralta hit a single to put runners at 1st and 3rd for Brayan Pena, but he struck out and the Tigers didn't score.

Luke Putkonen came back out and pitched a scoreless 13th inning.

Like Don Kelly, Austin Jackson led the 14th inning off with a double, then Torii Hunter hit a ground ball to advance Jackson to 3rd base. Miguel Cabrera and Prince Fielder were both intentionally walked to load the bases with 1 out for Don Kelly who hit a single to drive in Jackson. Matt Tuiasosopo came up next and hit a double to drive in Cabrera and Fielder, then Jhonny Peralta hit a sacrifice fly to drive in Kelly and the Tigers took a 7-3 lead.

Putkonen came back out and pitched a scoreless 14th inning win his first career game, and get the Tigers the win.

The Tigers continue their series with the Astros tomorrow as Doug Fister (4-0 2.38 ERA) pitches against Bud Norris (3-3 4.20 ERA).

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Tigers Not Sharp in a 6-2 Loss

Anibal Sanchez had a disaster of a 1st inning having a 40 pitch inning with a bullpen that wasn't at full strength, but he managed to get the Tigers some innings today. He pitched 6 innings giving up 3 runs on 5 hits, walking 2 and striking out 9 batters.

The Tigers didn't get their first hit until the 5th inning, but scored in the 6th inning after a double by Austin Jackson and single from Torii Hunter to drive in Jackson; Hunter advanced to 2nd base on the play. Miguel Cabrera came up next and hit a double to drive in Hunter and made it a 3-2 game.

Bruce Rondon came in for relief and quickly gave up a run, then loaded the bases after only getting 1 out before he was pulled. Darin Downs came in to replace him and got the last 2 outs, but also allowed 1 inherited base runner to score and it was a 5-2 game.

Darin Downs came back out for the 8th inning and gave up a run in his inning of work to make it a 6-2 game.

Jose Ortega made his season debut and pitched a scoreless 9th inning.

The Tigers offense tried to rally in the 9th inning, starting with singles by Miguel Cabrera and Prince Fielder, but a double play ended any chance of a comeback and the Tigers lost 6-2.

The Tigers open up a 4 game road series tomorrow with the Astros as Rick Porcello (1-2 8.84 ERA) takes on Jordan Lyles.

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