CLEVELAND (AP)—A long day ended on a high note for the Chicago White Sox.

Alexei Ramirez’s(notes) seventh-inning single broke the game’s final tie and led
Chicago to a 5-4 win over the Cleveland Indians on Tuesday night, giving the
White Sox a split of the day-night doubleheader.

Asdrubal Cabrera’s(notes) solo home run and six strong innings from Fausto Carmona(notes)
gave Cleveland a 4-3 win in the first game.

The teams, who were eliminated from the AL Central race last week when
Detroit clinched the division, are battling for second place. The Indians lead
the White Sox by 1 1/2 games.

Trailing 4-0 in the fifth, Chicago scored a run in the fifth and two runs in
both the sixth and seventh.

“It made the day a little bit nicer,” manager Ozzie Guillen said. “We
were down right away and I thought the whole day was going to be very long. We
fought back and won the game.”

Matt Thornton(notes) (2-5) pitched 1 1-3 innings for the win in the second game and
Chris Sale(notes) went the final 1 2-3 innings for his seventh save.

Cleveland took a 4-3 lead into the seventh before Chicago rallied against
rookie reliever Zach Putnam(notes) (0-1). Tyler Flowers(notes) started the rally with a single
and took third on Gordon Beckham’s(notes) third double of the game. Juan Pierre’s(notes)
groundout tied the game before Ramirez’s bloop single to center over a drawn-in
infield gave Chicago the lead.

Beckham became the first White Sox player to have three doubles in a game
since Aaron Rowand(notes) in 2005.

“It’s one of those days I’ve been searching for,” Beckham said.
“Unfortunately, it comes with eight games left. I’m glad we came back and won
that game. We showed some fight.”

“It’s nice to see this kid swing the bat the way he did,” Guillen said of
Beckham. “He was kind of down the last couple of days. We’re all glad he got
those hits.”

Both teams started rookies in the second game. Dylan Axelrod(notes), making his
second major-league start, allowed four runs in 4 2-3 innings for the White Sox
while Zach McAllister(notes), in his third big-league start, gave up two runs in 5 1-3
innings for the Indians.

Cleveland used four rookie pitchers in the second game, which led to
problems finding the plate. Putnam hit Paul Konerko(notes) in the hip in the seventh
inning. Josh Judy(notes) hit Beckham in the back and Ramirez in the shoulder in the
ninth. Guillen wasn’t happy seeing so many of his players get drilled, but
didn’t think it was intentional.

“I don’t think they were throwing at them,” he said. “It’s a bunch of
kids up from the minor leagues. You can do nothing about it. All you can do is
run to first base and get the trainers.”

Cleveland managed one hit off Axelrod through three innings before scoring
four times in the fourth. Jim Thome’s(notes) RBI single gave Cleveland the lead. Matt
LaPorta’s(notes) run-scoring double and sacrifice flies by Grady Sizemore(notes) and Jack
Hannahan(notes) completed the scoring.

McAllister held the White Sox scoreless until the fifth when Beckham’s RBI
double scored Chicago’s first run. Alejandro De Aza’s(notes) two-run double off Rafael
Perez(notes) in the sixth cut the lead to one.

Cabrera strained his back while batting in the eighth inning of the first
game and didn’t play in the second game.

Carmona (7-15) allowed three runs in six innings and won for the first time
since Aug. 17.

Travis Hafner(notes) and Kosuke Fukudome(notes) also homered off Gavin Floyd(notes) (12-12), who
hasn’t won since Aug. 29.

Hafner’s two-run homer in the first gave Cleveland the lead, but Chicago
tied the game in the second on Adam Dunn’s(notes) RBI double and De Aza’s run-scoring
single.

Cabrera’s home run put Cleveland ahead and was his 24th of the season.
Cabrera, who entered Saturday’s game against Minnesota in an 0-for-20 slump, has
eight hits in his last 13 at-bats. He leads the Indians with 87 RBIs, eclipsing
his previous career high of 68 in 2009.

“I’m really happy with what I’ve done, but I haven’t thought too much about
it,” he said. “I think we’ve had a good season, and it’s not over yet.”

NOTES: The first game was the makeup of a July 23 rainout at Progressive
Field. … Guillen says LHP Mark Buehrle(notes) will start Wednesday night. Buehrle
(11-9, 3.74 ERA) has sore biceps after being hit with a ball in his last start.
RHP Ubaldo Jimenez(notes) (4-2, 4.56) will start for the Indians. … Guillen played
most of his regulars in Tuesday’s first game. … The Indians are playing nine
games in seven days on their final homestand of the season. Cleveland played a
makeup game with Seattle on Monday and will play another day-night doubleheader
against Minnesota on Saturday. … The Indians recalled RHP Corey Kluber(notes) from
Triple-A Columbus.

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Shelley Duncan homered to start a six-run seventh and added a two-run double in the inning as the Cleveland Indians rallied for a 6-5 victory over the Minnesota Twins on Sunday, completing a three-game sweep.

Trailing 3-0, the Indians scored five unearned runs in the seventh with help from an error on first baseman Chris Parmalee. Duncan led off with a homer and also doubled in a pair of runs later in the inning that saw Cleveland send 11 batters to the plate.

Minnesota’s Jason Repko left the game after being hit in the head by a pitch from Justin Masterson in the bottom of the sixth. Repko walked off of field with assistance and was taken to Hennepin County Medical Center for evaluation.

Luke Hughes scored three runs for the Twins, who lost their eighth straight and 24th in 29 games. Minnesota’s Brian Dinkelman had his first career four-hit game.

Masterson (12-10) pitched six innings, giving up three runs — one earned — on seven hits to secure the victory. Chris Perez pitched a scoreless ninth for his 34th save in 38 chances.

The win allowed the Indians to secure their first three-game sweep since mid-June.

Behind Carl Pavano, Minnesota was in control through six innings. That changed in the seventh.

After Duncan homered to lead off the inning, Cleveland’s Lonnie Chisenhall reached on what would be a costly error on Minnesota’s Chris Parmalee. After fielding the grounder, Parmalee’s throw to Pavano covering first was wide and Chisenhall was safe.

The Twins quickly got the next two outs, but Cleveland took advantage of the extra out and loaded the bases. Minnesota relievers Jose Mijares and Alex Burnett each walked in a run, allowing Cleveland to tie the game at 3.

Cleveland’s Jim Thome — who spent all of 2010 and much of 2011 with the Twins — gave Cleveland a 4-3 lead with a broken bat single that didn’t leave the infield.

Batting for the second time in the inning, Duncan hit a line drive that hit the left-field wall to drive in two runs and give Cleveland a 6-3 lead.

Pavano (8-13) was charged with the loss in a game in which he was sharp for six-plus innings. While Pavano gave up four runs, only one was earned.

The Twins, who started a lineup that featured only one opening-day starter, scored twice in the bottom of the eighth to cut Cleveland’s lead to 6-5. After hitting Matt Tolbert with a pitch to load the bases, Cleveland reliever Vinnie Pestano walked in two runs.

Hughes scored his third run of the game in the sixth to give Minnesota a 3-0 lead on Brian Dinkelman’s single.

In the second, Hughes scored on Joe Benson’s groundout. In the bottom of the fourth, he scored again, this time when Lou Marson threw ball into center field in an attempt to throw out Benson, who was stealing.

NOTES: Both teams have one-game makeups on Monday. David Huff (2-5) will pitch for Cleveland against Seattle in a makeup of a May 14 rainout. The Indians will then host the Chicago White Sox for four games in three days. Minnesota was scheduled to fly to New York on Sunday night for a one-game makeup against the Yankees before returning home to face the Mariners. Scott Diamond (1-4) will start for the Twins against the Yankees. … Because of the quick, one-game trip to New York, the Twins are leaving the rest of the starting rotation and several injured players in Minnesota. … The victory allowed Cleveland to even its record at 75-75 with 12 games remaining in the season. The Indians haven’t finished above .500 since 2007.

MINNEAPOLIS — Shelley Duncan spoke the first and final words in the seventh inning Sunday, and his words were golden.

Duncan hit a leadoff homer and ended the scoring eight batters later with a two-run double in a six-run seventh inning as Indians came from behind to beat the Twins, 6-5, at Target Field. The victory completed a three-game sweep of the Twins, the Indians’ first in Minneapolis since September of 2007.

“This was a big bounce-back series for us after getting swept in Texas,” said manager Manny Acta.

The victory gave the Indians a 5-5 record on their longest trip of the season and returned them to .500 at 75-75. They return home to start the final homestand of the season Monday against Seattle. The Indians will play nine games in the next seven days.

Duncan, with the Indians trailing, 3-0, hit a leadoff homer into the second deck in left off Carl Pavano’s 1-2 pitch to start the seventh. His two-run double later in the inning made it 6-3 and the Indians needed every one of those runs.

The Indians showed patience and power in the seventh. After Duncan’s 10th homer of the season and seventh since Aug. 6, Jason Kipnis and Carlos Santana drew bases-loaded walks to tie the score. A broken-bat infield single by Jim Thome gave the Indians their first lead at 4-3.

“Shelley Duncan got us going with that home run,” said Acta. “It got us on the board against Pavano, who had our number all day.”

Before the start of this series, Acta met with his players. They were about to get eliminated in the AL Central race by Detroit and he asked his team to reset their goals to finish with a winning record and in second place.

“We’re not done yet. We still want to accomplish some things,” said Acta. “Comebacks like this has been our MO all season. We know we’re always just one inning away from making something good happen.”

Justin Masterson (12-10, 3.15) earned the win on what he called a “crazy day.” A heavy mist fell for most of the game, making fielding treacherous. The Indians made four errors and the Twins two.

“I figured something would happen with in the field to decide the game because it was so wet,” said Masterson. “But what I didn’t figure is that most of the runs would come on bases-loaded walks.”

Masterson allowed three runs, one earned, on seven hits in six innings. He struck out three and walked one. Chris Perez pitched the ninth for his 34th save in 38 chances.

After the Twins’ bullpen forced home two runs in the seventh, Vinnie Pestano did the same in the eighth. He issued consecutive walks to Danny Valencia and Ben Revere to make it 6-5.

“What goes around comes around,” said Acta. The battered Twins, who have lost eight straight, were swept for the 13th time this season.

Pavano (8-13, 4.40) and the Twins built a 3-0 lead through six innings. Rookie Joe Benson’s first big-league RBI came on a groundout to third to score another rookie, Luke Hughes in the second inning. Hughes had opened the inning with a single off Masterson to end an 0-for-11 slump. Brian Dinkelman, yet another rookie, sent Hughes to third with a single through the right side.

The Twins made it 2-0 in the fourth as Hughes scored from third when catcher Lou Marson’s throw to second on Benson’s attempted steal bounced into center field. Masterson got out of the inning with no further damage, but the Twins made it 3-0 on another unearned run in the sixth.

Chris Parmelee started by reaching on Jason Donald’s error at short. Third baseman Lonnie Chisenhall made a nice play on Hughes’ grounder and threw to second for the force, but Kipnis’ relay sailed over Santana’s head. Hughes went to third on Marson’s passed ball and scored on Dinkelman’s single to right.

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With Michael Young standing on deck for the Texas Rangers
already with 98 RBIs, the Cleveland Indians opted to walk Josh
Hamilton.

Giving that free pass to Hamilton and loading the bases in the
fifth inning only briefly delayed a big blast by the AL
West-leading Rangers.

Young delivered a three-run double to go over 100 RBIs for the
second time in his career, and Adrian Beltre immediately followed
with a two-run homer as Texas went on to a 7-4 victory Thursday
night, completing a three-game sweep and extending its division
lead to 3 1/2 games over the idle Los Angeles Angels.

“I don’t take those things personally. I just try to focus on my
job,” Young said. “At that point we’re really making sure we’re
trying to push one across. I was just trying to get something to
the outfield. Worst-case scenario, sacrifice fly scores a run.”

Texas (86-64) moved to 22 games over .500 for the first time
since 1999, and will now play nine of its final 12 games on the
road, starting Friday night at Seattle.

Cleveland’s loss cut Detroit’s magic number for clinching the AL
Central to one. The Tigers lost 6-1 at Oakland later Thursday.

“All you can think is you failed to achieve your goal, which is
to win the division,” Indians manager Manny Acta said. “You play to
win the division. So you get your head up, play for second place or
above .500. You have to shift gears and have another goal.”

Young’s bases-clearing double off Fausto Carmona (6-15) gave him
101 RBIs. Beltre followed with his 25th home run for a 6-0
lead.

Hamilton hit his 22nd homer in the seventh.

The 40th double of the season for Young, now primarily the
Rangers’ designated hitter, pushed him within two RBIs of his
career high set five years ago. Young is only three hits shy of his
seventh 200-hit season.

“What a year,” manager Ron Washington said. “It doesn’t matter
where I put him in that lineup, he delivers.”

Endy Chavez opened the Texas fifth with an infield single before
his second stolen base of the game. Ian Kinsler then walked before
Elvis Andrus’ sacrifice bunt brought up Hamilton, the reigning AL
MVP who hit a grand slam Wednesday night after also going deep in
the series opener.

“Like any team that has depth, pick your poison,” Washington
said. “I think any manager would have did what he did, not pitch to
Josh. But he had to deal with Michael, had to deal with
Beltre.”

Alexi Ogando (13-8) allowed only two singles while throwing six
scoreless innings. The All-Star right-hander struck out four and
walked two while winning for the first time in a month. He had been
0-3 in five starts since his last win Aug. 15 at the Angels.

Ogando was nearly flawless, except for a 39-pitch second inning
when he got out of bases-loaded jam with consecutive strikeouts
after both of his walks. He faced the minimum three batters the
other five innings he pitched, getting Ezequiel Carrera to ground
into an inning-ending double play after Jason Kipnis singled in the
sixth.

Washington said Ogando’s “competitive juices” kicked in after he
probably came within one batter of making an early exit.

“Sometimes during the game you have times like that during an
inning. I was going too much to my left side on my fastball,”
Ogando said through an interpreter. “That’s why I couldn’t control
those pitches. You can’t do anything else. You have to think about
what you were doing wrong. When they came and talked to me, that’s
what happened. I was able to fix it and worked my way to do
it.”

Ogando had already thrown 52 pitches after he struck out Lonnie
Chisenhall and Lou Marson to get out of the second. He needed only
40 more pitches to get through the next four innings, and had his
longest outing in his last five starts.

Carmona, an AL All-Star last season, is 0-3 with a 6.97 ERA over
his last six starts. Against the Rangers, the right-hander struck
out three, walked five, and gave up seven hits and five earned runs
over six innings. He also threw a wild pitch.

Texas got its first run after Chavez had a leadoff single in the
third to snap his 0-for-13 slide. He then got to third on a stolen
base and a throwing error by catcher Marson before scoring on a
single by Andrus.

Shelley Duncan had a bloop RBI single with two outs in the
seventh off Darren Oliver for the Indians’ first run.

NOTES: The Rangers went 9-1 against Cleveland this season,
outscoring the Indians 68-32. Texas has won 21 of 25 in the series
over the past three seasons. … Andrus has hit in all 23 of his
games against Cleveland. … Texas had only nine hits, ending its
club record streak of consecutive 12-hit games at seven. …
Cleveland scored twice in the ninth off closer Neftali Feliz, who
was pitching for the first time since Saturday. … Actor Jonah
Hill, a co-star in the upcoming movie “Moneyball,” threw out the
ceremonial first pitch. … Texas is 49-29 at home.

© 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Brent Morel hit two homers and Paul Konerko had a grand slam, lifting the Chicago White Sox to an 8-1 victory over the Cleveland Indians on Thursday night.

Morel hit a solo shot off Indians starter David Huff (2-4) in the third and a three-run homer off Frank Herrmann in the seventh — both on the first pitch. It was Morel’s first career multi-homer game and his four RBIs were a career-high.

Konerko’s 10th career grand slam tied Robin Ventura’s White Sox record and capped Chicago’s seven-run seventh.

Gavin Floyd struck out four and held Cleveland to one run and five hits in 5 2-3 innings. Matt Thornton (1-4) retired all four batters he faced, striking out three.

Huff gave up three runs and five hits in 6 1-3 innings, striking out five, as the Indians lost their fourth straight.

Both clubs were recently swept by first-place Detroit, giving the Tigers a commanding lead in the AL Central and virtually reducing this weekend’s series into a battle for second place.

Putting a further damper on a matchup that had lost its once-anticipated luster, a misty rain began to blow across the field during the top of the third and fell for much of the game.

The small, subdued crowd at U.S. Cellular Field saved its biggest cheers for Cleveland’s Jim Thome, whose RBI single in the first scored Asdrubal Cabrera for the game’s first run.

The White Sox honored Thome in a ceremony before the game in recognition of his 600th career homer, which he hit on Aug. 15. Thome, who played for Chicago from 2006 to 2009, also received a standing ovation before his first plate appearance.

Morel tied the game with a homer to left-center in the bottom of third. Later in the inning, Juan Pierre singled for his 2,000th career hit, also earning a nice ovation as he tipped his cap. Pierre, 34, became the 268th big-leaguer to reach the milestone.

Despite holding the Indians to one run, Floyd fell behind a number of hitters working from a slippery mound, running up his pitch count. At one point in the sixth, he requested that the field crew come out and apply sand around the pitching rubber.
Floyd departed after throwing 112 pitches, giving way to Will Ohman, who got Thome on an inning-ending grounder with a runner on first.

Huff pitched into the seventh, when he allowed a walk and a single to begin the inning. He struck out Tyler Flowers before giving way to Herrmann, whose first pitch Morel hammered into the left-field bleachers.

Herrmann allowed a walk and a single before being replaced by Josh Judy, who hit Brent Lillibridge with a pitch and gave up Konerko’s grand slam. The White Sox scored seven runs on just four hits in the inning.

NOTES: White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen said that RF Carlos Quentin (sprained left shoulder) will likely return to the lineup over the weekend. … Cleveland rookie 2B Jason Kipnis, a Northbrook, Ill., native, singled in his first big-league game in his hometown. He was injured the last time the Indians were in Chicago. … Indians manager Manny Acta said 1B Matt LaPorta would likely be back with the club in the “next couple of days.” The former first-round pick was sent to Triple-A Columbus on Aug. 29 after struggling to a .238 average in 97 games. … Cleveland’s Jeanmar Gomez will square off against Chicago’s Mark Buehrle on Friday. Buehrle allowed a season-high eight runs in his last outing.

CLEVELAND – So this was the plan: win the first two games and take your chances with Justin Verlander in the third game.

This is the reality: Thanks for coming! Good night everybody!

The postseason ship sailed Tuesday night at Progressive Field – and the Indians weren’t on it.

Barring a collapse of near historic proportions, the Detroit Tigers essentially clinched the Central Division title Tuesday night, speedily laying waste to a fumbling Fausto Carmona and trampling the Tribe 10-1.

The Indians, who in the first two games of the series have scored three runs and hit .121 as a team, now trail the division leading Tigers by 8 ½ games, and the regular season ends three weeks from today.

For the game but gassed Indians, their case may not be hopeless, but they can see hopeless from here.

Ideally the Indians needed to sweep the three-game series that ends today, but with the overpowering Verlander on the mound for the third game, a more realistic goal was to win two of the three games.

That would have left the Tribe 5 ½ games behind Detroit at series end. Not great, but not road kill.

Instead, they were flattened in the first two games, and are staring this afternoon at the grille of an 18 wheeler named Verlander.

Tuesday’s game was over before many fans found their seats – or Carmona found his mojo. Continued…

In a stunning display of mojo misplacement that sapped the life and spirit from the crowd and his team, Carmona retired the first two batters of the game – repeat: two outs, nobody on base – then proceeded to give up a walk, a balk, and then six consecutive two-out hits.

It was basically batting practice for the red-hot Motown hit men, who feasted on Carmona’s pitches, most of which arrived over the fat part of the plate screaming “Hit me!”.

So the Tigers did.

Coming into the game Delmon Young, Detroit’s No. 3 hitter, had not drawn a walk in 90 at-bats since being traded to the Tigers by the Twins.

With two outs and nobody on base, Carmona walked him.

The rest of the inning went something – actually, it went exactly – like this: single (Miguel Cabrera), single (Victor Martinez), single (Alex Avila), single (Jhonny Peralta), single (Don Kelly), single (Ramon Santiago).

Picking up a pattern?

The RBI went to Martinez (2), Peralta, Kelly, and Santiago (1 each). Carmona needed 30 pitches to stumble through the inning, and when he finally staggered off the mound he and his team were losing 5-0.

“It’s tough,” said Tribe manager Manny Acta. Before you even hit you’re down 5-0, before you take your first swing you know you’re going to need at least six to win the game.”

In the second inning Carmona gave up doubles to two of the first three batters he faced before Acta mercifully removed him from the game. Carmona (6-14) jogged to the dugout amid a cascade of boos from fans who perhaps are mindful of the fact that Carmona hasn’t won a game at Progressive Field in over four months _ since April 28. Continued…

Since that date Carmona is 0-7 at home, and is just as big of an enigma in the last month of the season as he was for Tribe officials in the first month of the season.

“Fausto just didn’t have it,” Acta said. “And with the lineup they have if you’re not on your game they are going to put a bunch of runs on you.”

By the end of the second inning the Indians were trailing 8-0, and after that it was up to the fans to entertain themselves.

Tigers starter Rick Porcello was nearly perfect for six innings, retiring 18 of the 19 batters he faced. The Indians’ only base runner in that span was Jason Kipnis who singled in the second inning, in his first at bat since coming off the disabled list.

That hit helped the Indians avoid the unthinkable nightmare of potentially getting no-hit the day BEFORE they faced Verlander.

Porcello, who in his last two starts against the Indians has had leads after the third inning of 7-0 and 8-0, pitched into the seventh inning and is 13-8 for the Tigers, who have won five in a row and since August 19 are 15-4.

The Indians’ only run came in the seventh inning on a home run by Kosuke Fukudome.

Jim Ingraham covers the Indians for The Oakland Press’ sister paper in Ohio, the Lorain Morning Journal. Email him at jingraham@morningjournal.com .

CLEVELAND – So this was the plan: win the first two games and take your chances with Justin Verlander in the third game.

This is the reality: Thanks for coming! Good night everybody!

The postseason ship sailed Tuesday night at Progressive Field – and the Indians weren’t on it.

Barring a collapse of near historic proportions, the Detroit Tigers essentially clinched the Central Division title Tuesday night, speedily laying waste to a fumbling Fausto Carmona and trampling the Tribe 10-1.

The Indians, who in the first two games of the series have scored three runs and hit .121 as a team, now trail the division leading Tigers by 8 ½ games, and the regular season ends three weeks from today.

For the game but gassed Indians, their case may not be hopeless, but they can see hopeless from here.

Ideally the Indians needed to sweep the three-game series that ends today, but with the overpowering Verlander on the mound for the third game, a more realistic goal was to win two of the three games.

That would have left the Tribe 5 ½ games behind Detroit at series end. Not great, but not road kill.

Instead, they were flattened in the first two games, and are staring this afternoon at the grille of an 18 wheeler named Verlander.

Tuesday’s game was over before many fans found their seats – or Carmona found his mojo.

In a stunning display of mojo misplacement that sapped the life and spirit from the crowd and his team, Carmona retired the first two batters of the game – repeat: two outs, nobody on base – then proceeded to give up a walk, a balk, and then six consecutive two-out hits.

It was basically batting practice for the red-hot Motown hit men, who feasted on Carmona’s pitches, most of which arrived over the fat part of the plate screaming “Hit me!”.

So the Tigers did.

Coming into the game Delmon Young, Detroit’s No. 3 hitter, had not drawn a walk in 90 at-bats since being traded to the Tigers by the Twins.

With two outs and nobody on base, Carmona walked him.

The rest of the inning went something – actually, it went exactly – like this: single (Miguel Cabrera), single (Victor Martinez), single (Alex Avila), single (Jhonny Peralta), single (Don Kelly), single (Ramon Santiago).

Picking up a pattern?

The RBI went to Martinez (2), Peralta, Kelly, and Santiago (1 each). Carmona needed 30 pitches to stumble through the inning, and when he finally staggered off the mound he and his team were losing 5-0.

“It’s tough,” said Tribe manager Manny Acta. Before you even hit you’re down 5-0, before you take your first swing you know you’re going to need at least six to win the game.”

In the second inning Carmona gave up doubles to two of the first three batters he faced before Acta mercifully removed him from the game. Carmona (6-14) jogged to the dugout amid a cascade of boos from fans who perhaps are mindful of the fact that Carmona hasn’t won a game at Progressive Field in over four months _ since April 28.

Since that date Carmona is 0-7 at home, and is just as big of an enigma in the last month of the season as he was for Tribe officials in the first month of the season.

“Fausto just didn’t have it,” Acta said. “And with the lineup they have if you’re not on your game they are going to put a bunch of runs on you.”

By the end of the second inning the Indians were trailing 8-0, and after that it was up to the fans to entertain themselves.

Tigers starter Rick Porcello was nearly perfect for six innings, retiring 18 of the 19 batters he faced. The Indians’ only base runner in that span was Jason Kipnis who singled in the second inning, in his first at bat since coming off the disabled list.

That hit helped the Indians avoid the unthinkable nightmare of potentially getting no-hit the day BEFORE they faced Verlander.

Porcello, who in his last two starts against the Indians has had leads after the third inning of 7-0 and 8-0, pitched into the seventh inning and is 13-8 for the Tigers, who have won five in a row and since August 19 are 15-4.

The Indians’ only run came in the seventh inning on a home run by Kosuke Fukudome.

Jim Ingraham covers the Indians for The Oakland Press’ sister paper in Ohio, the Lorain Morning Journal. Email him at jingraham@morningjournal.com .