Detroit Tigers Reclaim First Place With Win Over Cleveland

Max Scherzer didn't have it today.  Then he had it for a few innings.  Then he didn't.  Lucky for him that his teammates swung the bats for him today and the bullpen kept the Indians in check. 

Cleveland jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the very first inning and had opportunities to score more.  The Tigers responded with two of their own in the bottom of the first.  Scherzer settled down  and looked good for a few innings before self-destructing in the 6th by walking two and hitting a batter.  Al Alburquerque bailed him out of that jam, then Juaquin Benoit and Jose Valverde finished the Indians off for a 6-2 Tiger victory.  The Tigers took the lead for good when Jhonny Peralta and Ryan Raburn hit back-to-back homers in the 4th.

The win puts the Tigers back in first place in the American League Central, 1 game ahead of Cleveland.  The Tigers will begin a stretch of Interleague play tomorrow night in Colorado with a 3 game series against the Rockies.  Rick Porcello starts for the Tigers in a game that starts at 8:40 pm.  When the Tigers play in a National League city, they have to play by NL rules.  That means pitchers bat and no DH.  Porcello has a couple of base hits to his credit as a big leaguer, let's hope he can help his team with his arm and the lumber.