Brandon Inge drove in four runs and Carlos Guillen added three RBIs as the Detroit Tigers outslugged the Baltimore Orioles, 12-9, on Monday.
All-Star Miguel Cabrera chipped in two doubles and two RBIs and Johnny Damon scored a pair of runs for the Tigers (44-37), who claimed first place in the AL Central by one-half game over the idle Minnesota Twins.
Neither starter had anything to work with early, as the Tigers jumped on Baltimore right-hander Kevin Millwood for five runs in the first. Cabrera sparked that rally with a two-run double and Guillen and Inge each chipped in an RBI to give Detroit a 5-1 advantage.
But rookie Andy Oliver fared no better for Detroit, coughing up the lead in the second as the Orioles (25-57) piled on five runs of their own to jump back on top, 6-5.
Millwood didn’t even make it into the second inning as Baltimore turned to left-hander Mark Hendrickson (1-4), who yielded three more runs to put Detroit on top for good. The Tigers grabbed two more in each the fifth and the seventh to put the game out of reach.
Oliver, who was making his third major league start, was lifted after 1 2/3 innings and watched as five Detroit relievers combined to allow three runs the rest of the way.
Eddie Bonine (4-0) was credited with the win after allowing one runs and six hits in 2 2/3 innings.
Baltimore | Detroit | |
Kevin Millwood | Player | Andrew Oliver |
No Decision | W/L | No Decision |
1.0 | IP | 1.2 |
1 | Strikeouts | 1 |
4 | Hits | 4 |
45.00 | ERA | 27.00 |
Baltimore | Detroit | |
Julio Lugo | Player | Carlos Guillen |
3 | Hits | 3 |
1 | RBI | 3 |
0 | HR | 0 |
5 | TB | 4 |
.750 | Avg | .750 |