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Friday, Jun. 16 7:05pm ET
Four Tigers HRs add to Indians' misery | |||||
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GAME LOG
DETROIT (AP) -- Things are going so badly for the Cleveland Indians that Dave Burba can't even beat a team he always mastered in the past. Burba gave up four home runs in his first career loss to Detroit and the Indians dropped their fifth straight, 5-2 to the Detroit Tigers on Friday night. The defeat dropped Cleveland 6½ games behind first-place Chicago in the AL Central after the White Sox beat the New York Yankees 3-1 for their fifth straight win. "We're in a bad period, but we can't worry about the White Sox," Indians manager Charlie Manuel said. "We have to just go out and win the next game. But we definitely can turn this around." Cleveland hasn't been this far out of first place since finishing 19 games behind Toronto in 1993. "Is it still early?" the Indians' David Justice asked out loud. "At some point it ain't going to be early. Nobody's slacking. We're just not getting any victories." Bobby Higginson and Juan Gonzalez hit consecutive homers in the third inning, Tony Clark added a two-run drive in the fifth and Dean Palmer hit a solo shot in the seventh for the Tigers. Travis Fryman and Justice hit solo home runs for the Indians. All of the game's runs scored on the six home runs, a one-game high in spacious Comerica Park. "The ball's definitely carrying better," Tigers manager Phil Garner said. "You still have to hit the ball good. There won't be many cheap home runs here." Palmer said the difference between now and earlier in the season at the Tigers' new home is "like night and day." "Ever since it got humid the ball seems to be jumping," Palmer said. Detroit has won three of four from the Indians in Comerica Park this season. Before the game, the Indians held a clubhouse meeting. "There were little things that some people thought needed to be said," Burba said. "They said them, and it's no big deal. I don't think anybody's panicking." Burba (7-2) had won six straight decisions overall. He was 6-0 with a 3.39 ERA in his career against the Tigers before they tagged him. Burba allowed four home runs in a game for the second time in his career. He had allowed only seven homers in his previous 72 1/3 innings this season. "Tonight compared to the last few times we faced him we did a lot better job of being selective and laying off his offspeed stuff," Palmer said. "We did a good job of being patient and making him come in with the fastball." Burba struck out six in 6 2/3 innings. He fanned Palmer in the fifth for his 1,000th career strikeout. "It wasn't a good night for him," Manuel said. "We didn't score any runs for him. He made some good pitches, but he made two mistakes." Brian Moehler (4-3) won his third straight decision, giving up two runs on five hits in six innings. Danny Patterson, Doug Brocail and Todd Jones each pitched a scoreless inning, with Jones finishing for his AL-leading 19th save in 20 chances. Brocail got Jim Thome on a called third strike with two on and two out in the eighth. "I have no worry about the game when those guys come in," Moehler said. "Patterson's got one of the best sinkers I've seen, and Brocail and Jones are two of the best there are." Fryman led off the second with his 14th home run. Higginson answered with his 10th homer in the third. Gonzalez followed with his 11th home run, an estimated 450-foot drive to left-center field. Clark, who struck out with the bases loaded in the first and had only two hits in his first 13 at-bats since returning from the disabled list, hit a two-run homer in the fifth. It was his fifth of the season and first since May 8. Justice lined a two-out solo homer, his 19th, into the right-field bullpen in the sixth. Palmer answered with an opposite-field drive to right in the seventh, his 14th. Game notesThe Indians signed free agent RHP Jamie Navarro for their injury-riddled staff, and he's scheduled to start Sunday's series finale against the Tigers. Navarro was 0-5 with a 12.54 ERA for Milwaukee, which released him April 30. ... Higginson and Gonzalez hit back-to-back homers for the second time this week. They also did it Tuesday during a 16-4 rout of Toronto. ... Indians C Sandy Alomar was scratched from the starting lineup, but the club said it was not because of injury. ... Gonzalez threw out Omar Vizquel at the plate as he tried to score from second on Thome's two-out single to right in the first. | ALSO SEE Baseball Scoreboard Cleveland Clubhouse Detroit Clubhouse RECAPS Boston 7 Toronto 4
Detroit 5
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