By Dave Hart
LocalSportsJournal.com
Indians 5, Tigers 3– The Cleveland Indians picked up their 10th straight victory over the Tigers on Monday night.
The Indians jumped out to a 2-0 lead with a run in both the second and third inning.
Detroit cut its deficit to 2-1 in the fifth on a solo homer by Steven Moya.
Cleveland responded with a run in the bottom of the fifth inning on a sacrifice fly by Francisco Lindor to take a 3-1 advantage.
The Tigers tied the contest 3-3 in the sixth inning on a two-run home run by Nick Castellanos before the Indians regained their lead with a two-run homer in the seventh by Mike Napoli.
Detroit’s starting pitcher Daniel Norris left the game after two innings pitched with a strained oblique. Bruce Rondon suffered his first loss of the season after giving up the game-winning home run.
The Tigers were led in a losing effort by Miguel Cabrera, Castellanos and Moya with two hits apiece.
Detroit is now 44-39 on the season, good for second place in the American League Central Division behind the first-place Cleveland Indians.
The Tigers are currently one-game behind the Toronto Blue Jays for the last wild card playoff spot.
Detroit will look to even the series with a win over the Indians on Tuesday night.
Record: 44-39
2nd Place in AL Central Division (6.5 games behind first-place Cleveland)
1 game behind Toronto for last Wild Card spot
Magic # to clinch a playoff spot: 80
Magic # to clinch an AL Central Division title: 87
Next Game: 07/05/2016 @ Cleveland Indians 7:05 p.m. @ Progressive Field
Hitting stats: Nick Castellanos 2B (18) HR (15) 2 RBI (45), Steven Moya HR (5) RBI (9).
Pitching stats: Bruce Rondon L (2-1) 1 IP 2 H 2 R 2 ER 1 BB 1 K, Daniel Norris 2 IP 3 H 2 R 2 ER 1 BB 3 K.
