Tigers tame Indians

By TOM WITHERS

AP Sports Writer

CLEVELAND — Justin Verlander dominated for eight innings and Don Kelly hit a three-run homer off Justin Masterson, leading the Detroit Tigers to their 10th straight win, 5-1 over the Cleveland Indians.

Verlander (12-8) allowed one run and four hits as the Tigers beat the Indians for 10th time in 11 games and opened a five-game lead over Cleveland in the AL Central.

Kelly connected in the fifth inning off Masterson (13-8) and Miguel Cabrera picked up his 100th RBI as the Tigers improved to 11-3 against their nearest division rival.

The Indians, who are 24-10 against the Central’s three other teams, have to hope they can win the next two over Detroit to split the series.

To do that, they’ll have to beat Doug Fister and Max Scherzer.

“Detroit has four aces, which is why they are so good,” Indians manager Terry Francona said before the game.

Although Scherzer leads the AL with 16 wins and is the front-runner to win the Cy Young this season, Verlander remains the Tigers’ top gun and the one they turn to when things get tough.

He gave up an RBI groundout in the second, but otherwise handled the Indians with ease. When Cleveland threatened in the sixth with two on and none out, Verlander turned up the heat.

He retired Nick Swisher on a deep fly to right before blowing a 100 mph fastball past All-Star Jason Kipnis for strike two and then locked him up with an 84 mph changeup. Verlander then got Asdrubal Cabrera to ground out on another fastball then hit the century mark on the radar gun. As he headed toward the dugout, the right-hander pumped his fist knowing he had probably put the Indians away for good.

Masterson had one bad inning, and it cost him.

Kelly’s three-run shot highlighted Detroit’s five-run fifth off the right-hander, who hurt himself by hitting two batters during the inning.

First, he plunked No. 9 hitter Ramon Santiago, who had squared to bunt before getting drilled. Austin Jackson followed with a single and Torii Hunter’s RBI groundout brought in Santiago to tie it 1-all. Cabrera, who missed three games with a hip injury, then sent a drive off the center field wall for a go-ahead RBI double, arriving at second with a slow-motion slide.

One out later, Masterson hit Victor Martinez on the right foot. Detroit’s DH hopped around in obvious pain and Cabrera even left third base to check on his teammate, who limped to first but stayed in the game. Kelly followed by drilling a 1-1 pitch into the Tigers’ bullpen for his fifth homer to make it 5-1.

Kelly owns Masterson. He’s now 11 of 24 (.458) with two homers and eight RBIs. On June 9, he hit a three-run homer off Masterson in Detroit’s 4-1 win.

Like his teammates, Masterson struggles with the Tigers. He dropped to 0-3 with a 7.23 ERA against Detroit this season.

The Indians got some bad news even before losing their second straight game in this crucial four-game series as starter Corey Kluber was put on the 15-day disabled list with a sprained right middle finger. The team said Kluber injured his finger on Monday night when he pitched 7 1-3 shutout innings.

There is no timetable on Kluber’s injury, but Indians starter Zach McAllister recently missed seven weeks with a similar ailment.

The Indians took a 1-0 lead in the second on Verlander, who despite his gaudy numbers against most teams, came in just 16-14 in his career against Cleveland.

Asdrubal Cabrera led off with a double and Michael Brantley followed with a single. Cabrera got caught in a rundown between third and home for the first out, but Ryan Raburn came through with an RBI groundout against his former teammates.

Masterson pitched himself into and out of trouble in the second.

He walked Prince Fielder and Martinez to open the inning and then gave up a single to Kelly. However, the right-hander buckled down and struck out Alex Avila and Jose Iglesias before getting Santiago to bounce into a force at second.

TWINS 7, ROYALS 0

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Andrew Albers allowed four hits while pitching into the ninth inning in his major league debut, easily outdueling Royals ace James Shields and leading the Twins over Kansas City.

The first big leaguer from Saskatchewan in more than 20 years, Albers at one point retired 15 straight.

He was two outs shy of his third straight complete game dating back to Triple-A Rochester, and the first shutout in a big league debut since Detroit’s Andy Van Hekken did it in 2002.

The Twins took most of the pressure off with a big night at the plate. Brian Dozier homered and drove in three runs, and Justin Morneau and Chris Colabello also went deep for the Twins.

WHITE SOX 3, YANKEES 2

CHICAGO — Chris Sale allowed one run while outpitching Hiroki Kuroda in to the eighth inning, and the White Sox beat the Yankees.

Alex Rodriguez singled, walked, was hit by a pitch and lined out to center field after going 1 for 4 in his season debut Monday. The Yankees lost for the 13th time in 19 games after scoring a run in the ninth against closer Addison Reed.

A-Rod was on deck when Alfonso Soriano struck out to end it with a runner on first.

Reed gave up a single to a pinch-hitter Ichiro Suzuki, who took second on defensive indifference and came around on Brett Gardner’s two-out single. But Reed finished for his 27th save in 32 chances.

RED SOX 15, ASTROS 10

HOUSTON — Jacoby Ellsbury homered twice and Jonny Gomes added a three-run shot and the Red Sox rallied from a five-run deficit for a win over the Astros.

Catcher Ryan Lavarnway tied a major league record with four passed balls in the first inning as he struggled to handle pitches from knuckleballer Steven Wright, and the Astros took a 3-0 lead.

Houston extended its lead to 5-0 before Ellsbury’s two-run shot in a three-run third closed the gap.

The Astros led 7-3 before a five-run fifth inning, highlighted by a two-run double by Lavarnway gave Boston a one-run lead.

The Red Sox tacked on five more runs in the sixth, capped by the pinch-hit homer by Gomes.

Robbie Grossman, Brett Wallace and Jake Elmore homered for the Astros, who have lost five of six.

BRAVES 2, NATIONALS 1

WASHINGTON — Hit by a pitch two innings after homering, Bryce Harper jawed and pointed at Atlanta’s Julio Teheran, and the dugouts and bullpens emptied, but the only haymakers thrown during the NL East-leading Braves’ 2-1 victory over the Nationals on Tuesday night came from the teams’ Twitter feeds.

Evan Gattis’ two-run single in the fifth inning and the six innings thrown by Teheran (9-5) while allowing one run combined to produce Atlanta’s season-high 12th consecutive win, padding their NL East lead to 14½ games over Washington.

Gattis’ big hit came off Gio Gonzalez (7-5), who pitched one night after Major League Baseball announced its Biogenesis investigation cleared the left-hander.

CARDINALS 5, DODGERS 1

ST. LOUIS — Carlos Beltran and Matt Adams homered in the eighth inning, and the St. Louis Cardinals snapped the Los Angeles Dodgers’ 15-game road winning streak with a 5-1 victory on Tuesday night.

Joe Kelly pitched into the sixth inning, outperforming Clayton Kershaw and helping St. Louis to its fourth victory in the last six games. Tony Cruz added an RBI single.

Adrian Gonzalez hit a one-out RBI single off Kelly (3-3) in the sixth, but that was it for Los Angeles against the right-hander. He left with runners on first and second and the Cardinals nursing a 2-1 lead.

Kershaw (10-7) allowed two runs and six hits in six innings for Los Angeles, which dropped to 15-3 since the All-Star break. The left-hander is 5-2 with a sparkling 1.62 ERA over his last eight starts.

PIRATES 4, MARLINS 3

PITTSBURGH — Josh Harrison homered leading off the bottom of the ninth, lifting the Pirates to a win over the Marlins.

Harrison sent a fastball from Miami’s Mike Dunn (2-3) into the first row of seats in left-center field for his first career walk-off homer.

Dunn had worked out of a bases loaded, no-out jam in the eighth.

Bryan Morris (5-4) pitched a perfect top of the ninth for the victory. The Pirates have won three straight and are a season-high 24 games over .500 (68-44).

Neil Walker had three hits for the Pirates. Andrew McCutchen had two hits, including a two-run double, for Pittsburgh.

PHILLIES 9, CUBS 8

PHILADELPHIA — Darin Ruf and Chase Utley sparked a three-run fifth inning to lift the Phillies to a 9-8 win over the Cubs.

Utley, who had three hits, drove in the tying run on a triple to deep center field. He soon scored on Domonic Brown’s groundout to give the Phillies the lead. Ruf added one more on a solo home run, his fourth of the season.

Philadelphia tagged Edwin Jackson (7-12) for seven runs and 10 hits in six innings.

Trailing 9-5 in the ninth, the Cubs scored three runs off Phillies closer Jonathan Papelbon before pinch-hitter Thomas Neal flew out with men on the corners to end it.

Kyle Kendrick (10-8) allowed five runs and six hits in six innings. He also had an RBI single.

METS 3, ROCKIES 2

NEW YORK — Eric Young made a diving catch to take a go-ahead hit away from Todd Helton in the sixth inning, then raced home with the tiebreaking run in the eighth, and the Mets beat the Rockies.

The Rockies have lost 12 of 18 since the All-Star break and have scored five runs in their last three games.

LaTroy Hawkins got his first save since May 6, 2012, for the Angels.

Scott Atchison (2-0) pitched a scoreless eighth inning.

Eric Young led off the eighth with a single against Wilton Lopez (1-4). He was able to take second on Marlon Byrd’s deep fly, putting him in position to make it home on Juan Lagares’ infield single, a slow chopper to second base, that he just barely beat out.

Young sped up as he rounded third and beat the throw home.