By Dave Hart
LocalSportsJournal.com
Tigers 6, Orioles 5 – The Tigers salvaged a game to avoid the four-game sweep against the Baltimore Orioles on Sunday afternoon.
Detroit overcame a 5-4 deficit in the eighth inning scoring two runs on back-to-back solo homers by J.D. Martinez and Miguel Cabrera with two outs.
Cabrera paced the Tigers with two RBIs, while Ian Kinsler added a solo home run and James McCann chipped in with an RBI.
The Tigers’ Steven Moya tripled, doubled and knocked in his first run of the season.
Detroit’s starting pitcher Michael Fulmer took a no decision, allowing four earned runs on five hits while striking out six batters in 4 1/3 innings.
Warwick Saupold picked up his first career win for the Tigers in his second appearance of the season.
The Orioles were led by Manny Machado with a home run and two RBIs while Jonathan Schoop knocked in two runs.
The Tigers are now 16-21 on the season, good for fourth place in the American League Central Division behind the Chicago White Sox.
Detroit will start a nine-game home stand starting Monday night against the Minnesota Twins.
Record: 16-21
4th Place in AL Central Division (7.5 games behind Chicago)
5 games behind Texas and Seattle for last playoff spot
Magic # to clinch a playoff spot: 131
Magic # to clinch an AL Central Division title: 133
Next Game: 05/16/2016 vs Minnesota Twins 7:10 p.m. @ Comerica Park
Hitting stats: Miguel Cabrera HR (6) 2 RBI (18), J.D. Martinez HR (6) RBI (16), Ian Kinsler 2B (8) HR (7) RBI (18), Steven Moya 2B (2) 3B (1) RBI (1), James McCann RBI (4), Nick Castellanos 2B (8), Justin Upton (9).
Pitching stats: Warwick Saupold W (1-0) 2.2 IP 2 H 0 R 0 ER 2 BB 4 K, Francisco Rodriguez SV (9) 1 IP 0 H 0 R 0 ER 0 BB 1 K, Michael Fulmer 4.1 IP 5 H 5 R 4 ER 3 BB 6 K.