Detroit scored 5 2-out runs in the top of the first inning on a walk and 6 hits. They cruised from there, stretching the lead to 8-0, before winning 10-1.
Rick Porcello allowed 1 run on a solo home, 3 hits in all, in 6.1 innings pitched. He upped his record to 13-8 on the season.
Al Alburquerque pitched two-thirds of an inning of relief, striking out two, but walking 2, in his first appearance since coming off the concussion DL. Hopefully Detroit can get their best bullpen arms tuned up.
Victor Martinez was 2-4 with 3 RBIs. He now has 8 RBIs in his last 3 games.
Jhonny Peralta was 2-3 with 2 RBIs. Miguel Cabrera was 3-5 with an RBI double. Don Kelly was 2-5 with an RBI.
Ramon Santiago had an RBI single and Delmon Young was 2-3 with a walk. Detroit pounded out 15 hits as their offense continues to click.
Detroit's lead over Cleveland is now 8 and half. Justin Verlander is on the hill this afternoon trying to complete the sweep.
Detroit has a 7 and a half game lead with 20 games to play. Given the recent collapses in the Tigers' past I'm not looking past anything, but at this point magic numbers to clinch start coming into play. After this series Detroit has 3 games against Cleveland in Detroit as the final series of the season. They'd certainly like to be clinched by then so they can arrange Justin Verlander's starts to maximize his availability the way they want it in the playoffs. Two years ago he wasn't available for the one game playoff at Minnesota because they needed him to pitch the second to last game of the season I think it was.
Detroit has 3 more games at Chicago, so the teams trailing do get a bit of a chance to cut into the lead. At this point though they'd need help. Other those series Detroit plays 4 at Oakland, 2 at Kansas City, and hosts Baltimore for 4 in the season's second to last series.
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