By Dave Hart
LocalSportsJournal.com
Tigers 4, Mariners 2 – The Tigers scored two runs in the bottom of the eighth inning to break a 2-2 tie and beat the Seattle Mariners on Tuesday night.
Detroit has now won two straight over the Mariners after its walk-off extra innings victory late Monday night on a Justin Upton homer.
The game remained scoreless until the sixth inning when Seattle jumped out to a 2-0 advantage before the Tigers responded with a run in the bottom of the sixth.
Detroit tied the game 2-2 in the seventh before taking a 4-2 lead with two runs in the eighth inning on an RBI infield single by Mike Aviles and a sacrifice fly by James McCann.
The Tigers were paced by Ian Kinsler, Aviles and Nick Castellanos with two hits apiece.
Detroit’s starting pitcher Justin Verlander took a no-decision, allowing two runs on six hits while striking out five batters in seven innings.
Bruce Rondon pitched the win for the Tigers, pitching a clean eighth inning while Francisco Rodriguez picked up his 20th save of the season.
The Tigers are now 36-35 on the season, good for third place in the American League Central Division behind the first-place Cleveland Indians.
Detroit will look to win its third straight home game with a victory over Seattle on Wednesday night.
Record: 36-35
3rd Place in AL Central Division (4.5 games behind first-place Cleveland)
2.5 games behind Kansas City for last Wild Card spot
Magic # to clinch a playoff spot: 95
Magic # to clinch an AL Central Division title: 97
Next Game: 06/22/2016 vs. Seattle Mariners 7:08 p.m. @ Comerica Park
Hitting stats: Nick Castellanos 2B (16) RBI (40), Ian Kinsler RBI (46), Mike Aviles RBI (5), James McCann RBI (19).
Pitching stats: Bruce Rondon W (1-0) 1 IP 0 H 0 R 0 ER 1 BB 0 K, Francisco Rodriguez SV (20) 1 IP 2 H 0 R 0 ER 0 BB 1 K, Justin Verlander 7 IP 6 H 2 R 2 ER 1 BB 5 K.
