Detroit Tigers’ Victor Martinez (right) hits a two run double during the tenth inning of their MLB American League baseball game against the Cleveland Indians in Cleveland, Ohio on Monday. (Reuters)
Reuters/New York
Max Scherzer did not add to his undefeated win total but the Detroit Tigers found another way to outlast Cleveland 4-2 in 10 innings and increase their lead in American League Central on Monday.
Scherzer tossed seven innings, allowed two runs and struck out seven in a no-decision that kept his perfect 13-0 record intact.
The game was knotted at 2-2 from the fourth inning into extras until Victor Martinez hit a two-run double in the top of the 10th to clinch the win.
The victory gave the Tigers (49-39) a third win over the Indians (46-43) in the finale of their four-game series and extended their edge over them to 3 ½ games in the division.
In Miami, the Atlanta Braves came alive with six runs in the 14th inning to claim a 7-1 extra-inning win over the Marlins.
Justin Upton provided the game-tying RBI in the sixth, then sparked the outburst in the 14th with the go-ahead two RBI double.
Gerald Laird added a two-run single and the Braves opened up a five-game lead in the National League East.
In Pittsburgh, Bartolo Colon shut down the Pirates to improve his sparkling record and guide the Oakland Athletics to a 2-1 victory.
Colon surrendered just one run over seven innings as he bumped his mark to 12-3.
Pittsburgh’s third straight defeat knocked them out of first place in the NL Central, placing them a half-game behind St.Louis.
In Milwaukee, centre fielder Carlos Gomez made a leaping catch above the wall for a spectacular final out that rescued the Brewers in a 4-3 triumph against Cincinnati.
With the Reds trailing by a run and a man on base, Joey Votto sent a drive to deep center for a potential go-ahead home run but Gomez reached the wall and timed his jump to snatch away the blast.
Meanwhile, Philadelphia Phillies slugger Ryan Howard will have surgery to repair torn cartilage in his left knee and is expected to miss six to eight weeks, the National League team said on Monday.
Howard was put on the disabled list on Saturday and tests on Monday revealed the tear, further hampering Philadelphia’s (43-46) chances of mounting a surge in their chase of the NL East leading Atlanta Braves, who they trailed by 7.5 games.
“We have to take care of it,” Phillies general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. said. “He’s going to have to have a procedure. It’s just a matter of who does it and when.”
First baseman Howard hit .266 with 11 home runs and 43 runs batted in before the injury.
Amaro said he expected rookie Darin Ruf to get most of the playing time at first base while Howard is out.
Three-time All-Star Howard, who also has been complaining of a foot injury, missed the first half of last season after tearing his left Achilles tendon making the final out in the 2011 NL division series.
The Phillies hope the leg injuries are a factor in Howard’s offensive decline the past two seasons. Since the Achilles surgery, the 2006 NL most valuable player has hit a combined .244 with 25 home runs and 99 RBIs in 151 games.
Young power hitters Davis and Harper in home run derby
Major League Baseball home run leader Chris Davis of the Baltimore Orioles and Washington Nationals Bryce Harper will join celebrated long-ball hitting veterans in the All-Star Home Run Derby lineup announced on Monday.
American League Derby captain Robinson Cano of the New York Yankees chose Baltimore first baseman Davis, who has 33 homers this season and Prince Fielder of the Detroit Tigers, who won his second Derby crown at last year’s game, to join him on the squad.
Cano, also a former winner of the home run contest, said he was leaving his fourth spot open to hear back from his final choice for the AL squad that will compete at spacious Citi Field on the eve of the July 16 All-Star game.
National League team captain David Wright, a runner-up in the 2006 Derby, designated Colorado’s corner outfielders, Carlos Gonzalez and Michael Cuddyer, to join Harper and him on the Derby team.