Tigers power past Indians

Austin Jackson hit a two-run homer to back seven stellar innings from Max Scherzer, as the Detroit Tigers downed the Cleveland Indians, 4-1, in the opener of a three-game series.

Scherzer (13-7) allowed just one run on five hits and a walk. He fanned six and a established a new career-high for wins in a season.

Alex Avila and Jhonny Peralta hit back-to-back home runs for the Tigers, who hold a 2 1/2 lead over the Indians for first place in the AL Central. 

Jose Valverde tossed a 1-2-3 ninth to record his 36th save of the season. 

Josh Tomlin (12-6) lasted 6 2/3 innings, allowing four runs on six hits. He struck out two and did not issue a walk. 

Carlos Santana scored the lone run for the Indians, who had won two straight entering the series. 

Tomlin was dominant through five frames. He surrendered just two hits and did not allow a runner to advance past first base over that span. In the sixth, however, Ryan Raburn reached with a one-out single and Jackson belted an 0-1 sinker over the fence in left-center to put the Tigers on top. 

Santana began the next frame with a single. Scherzer retired the next two batters, then threw a 2-2, knee-high fastball by Lonnie Chisenhall, but home plate umpire Joe West called the pitch a ball. Chisenhall capitalized, ripping a grounder towards first. Miguel Cabrera made a diving stop, but his toss pulled the covering Scherzer off the bag, allowing runners to reach the corners. Santana came home one batter later on a wild pitch to make it 2-1. 

With two down in the bottom half, Avila jumped on the first offering from Tomlin and sent it over the fence in right. Peralta repeated the feat, sending the first pitch he saw into the stands in left, marking the end of Tomlin's outing. 

"I was happy the way I threw the ball for five innings," said Tomlin. "After that you have to make better pitches in certain situations." 

Joaquin Benoit and Valverde teamed up to keep the margin at three, closing out the game with two scoreless relief innings. 

Cleveland had its chances against Scherzer early on. Shin-Soo Choo worked a one-out walk in the first, advanced to second on a wild pitch and to third on an Asdrubal Cabrera groundout, but was stranded when Travis Hafner went down on strikes. 

Michael Brantley ripped a two-out double in the third, but Choo followed with a groundout. 

In the sixth, Choo singled and stole second with two down, but again Hafner was retired to end the threat. 

"At this point in the season, when you can play a team in second place and beat them, that's always huge," said Scherzer. "That's what it's going to take for us to make the playoffs. We had a good team win tonight." 

Game Notes 

Tomlin has allowed a team-high 23 home runs this season...Miguel Cabrera went 1-for-4, extending his hit streak to 16-games...On Friday, the Indians placed rookie second baseman Jason Kipnis on the 15-day disabled list with a strained right hamstring, optioned outfielder Ezequiel Carrera to Triple-A Columbus and recalled outfielder Shelley Duncan and infielder Luis Valbuena from Columbus...Also on Friday, the Indians announced the August 14 postponed game against the Twins has been rescheduled for a doubleheader on Saturday, September 24. 

Jeter close to 3,000 as he heads back to Bronx

He will have four games at Yankee Stadium Thursday through Sunday to complete his march to 3,000 hits, a quest that was three hits short as he was playing Wednesday.
In his first three plate appearances against Cleveland Indians starter Justin Masterson, Jeter struck out in the first inning, hit a long flyout to center field in the third and walked in the sixth. In the eighth, he hit a double to right field for hit No. 2,997.

Jeter will play his first home game since June 13 when a weekend series with the Tampa Bay Rays begins. It's the final series before next week's All-Star break, after which the Yankees play their first eight games on the road.
The only real suspense in Wednesday's 5-3 loss to the Indians was whether Jeter would play. Manager Joe Girardi said after Tuesday's game that he was strongly leaning toward giving Jeter a day off.
What Girardi knew for certain was that Jeter would lobby hard to remain in the lineup. That's exactly what happened.
What swayed Girardi was the chance to remove a potential distraction as soon as possible from a team locked in a tight American League East race with the Boston Red Sox.
"I got the sense that he's thinking about (reaching 3,000)," Girardi said of his conversation with Jeter. "And he wants to get this done with so he can go on and be Derek Jeter, not Derek Jeter pursuing 3,000 hits. I don't know if I'd want a day off to think about it."
Jeter said he wanted to keep playing because he still was getting comfortable after a 20-day stint on the disabled list that ended Monday.
"(Girardi) just told me what he was thinking, and I told him what I was thinking, and he came to a decision," Jeter said. "If I had 500 hits, I'd want to play."
The 37-year-old, who keeps insisting he wants to try to enjoy the time leading up to the moment, admitted Wednesday was different because, after two hits Tuesday, this was the first time the milestone seemed within reach in that night's game.
"I'll try to have as much fun with it as I can," Jeter said. And now he can focus on playing at home where, he said, "I'd love to do it."
Everyone, it seems, would prefer Jeter do it at home, though he said before Wednesday's game, "We're on the road. I want to get hits today."
"I think it would be a nice script if he gets it in front of his fans," Indians manager Manny Acta said. "I really hope he gets it in New York. It would be great for him, great for the game."

MLB: Indians 4, Angels 0

Asdrubal Cabrera and Matt LaPorta homered, and the visiting Cleveland Indians extended their winning streak to eight with a 4-0 victory over the Los Angeles Angels on Monday.

Cabrera blasted his fourth homer of the season in the first inning off Tyler Chatwood (0-1), who allowed four runs over four innings in his major league debut.

Mitch Talbot (1-0) allowed five hits and two walks in eight innings. He left after allowing a double to Bobby Abreu leading off the ninth inning. Vinnie Pestano retired the only three hitters he faced to preserve the shutout.

LaPorta gave the Indians a 4-0 lead in the second inning with his three-run shot to right. La Porta's second homer of the season came after Orlando Cabrera singled and Austin Kearns doubled.

Cabrera, who hit only three homers last season, improved his average to .317 after going 1-for-3 on Monday.