By Dave Hart
LocalSportsJournal.com

Tigers 14, Astros 6 – The Tigers’ bat heated up in Friday night’s win over the Houston Astros in their first game of a nine-game home stand.

LSJ Logo incertDetroit scored 14 runs on 16 hits with seven of its runs coming in the second inning to an early 9-2 lead.

Tyler Collins and Justin Upton paced the Tigers with a three-run home run each, while Cameron Maybin, Miguel Cabrera and Nick Castellanos each added two RBIs.

Detroit’s starting pitcher Matt Boyd tossed the victory, allowing three runs on four hits while striking out six batters in five innings.Eye on the D

The Astros were led in a losing effort by Jose Altuve and Jake Marisnick with a homer each while Colby Rasmus knocked in two runs.

The Tigers now 55-48 on the season, good for second place in the American League Central Division behind the first-place Cleveland Indians. They are a game and a half games behind the Boston Red Sox for the final playoff spot.

Detroit will look for its fifth straight win with a victory over the Astros on Saturday night.

Record: 55-48

Tied for 2nd Place in AL Central Division (4.5 games behind first-place Cleveland)

1.5 games behind Boston for last Wild Card spot

Magic # to clinch a playoff spot: 63

Magic # to clinch an AL Central Division title: 66

Next Game: 07/30/2016 vs. Houston Astros 7:10 p.m. @ Comerica Park

Hitting stats: James McCann HR (7) RBI (26), Justin Upton HR (12) 3 RBI (44), Tyler Collins 3B (1) HR (3) 3 RBI (9), Cameron Maybin 2B (7), Miguel Cabrera 2 RBI (62), Nick Castellanos 2 RBI (57), Jarrod Saltalamacchia RBI (31).

Pitching stats: Matt Boyd W (2-2) 5 IP 4 H 3 R 3 ER 1 BB 6 K.