By Dave Hart
LocalSportsJournal.com
Tigers 4, Angels 2 – The Tigers opened their home stand with a win over the Los Angeles Angels on Friday night.
Detroit, which is now on a five-game winning streak, were led by Justin Upton with two hits, including a go-head two-run homer in the sixth inning.
The Angels opened the scoring with a run in the first inning to take a 1-0 lead.
The Tigers responded with four runs, scoring three in the sixth and one in the seventh inning before Los Angeles closed the scoring with a run in the eighth.
Cameron Maybin chipped in with a solo homer for Detroit while J.D. Martinez doubled and knocked in a run.
Detroit’s starting pitcher Justin Verlander picked up his 14th win of the season, allowing two runs on four hits while striking out eight batters in 7 2/3 innings.
The Angels were led in a losing effort by Albert Pujols with a solo homer and Kole Calhoun with a double and RBI.
The Tigers are now 69-59 on the season, good for second place in the American League Central Division behind the Cleveland Indians. They are one game back of the Baltimore Orioles for the final playoff spot.
Record: 69-59
2nd Place in AL Central Division (4 games behind first-place Cleveland)
1 game behind Baltimore for the last playoff spot
Magic # to clinch a playoff spot: 36
Magic # to clinch an AL Central Division title: 40
Next Game: 08/27/2016 vs Los Angeles Angels 7:10 p.m. @ Comerica Field
Hitting stats: Justin Upton 2B (23) HR (17) 2 RBI (57), Cameron Maybin 2B (8) HR (3) RBI (36), J.D. Martinez 2B (27) RBI (52), Victor Martinez 2B (20).
Pitching stats: Justin Verlander W (14-7) 7.2 IP 4 H 2 R 2 ER 1 BB 8 K, Francisco Rodriguez SV (36) 1.1 IP 0 H 0 R 0 ER 2 BB 1 K.
