Tigers Rally in 10th to Sink Indians

It was just over two months ago when I opened to the front page of the Detroit News Sports section and read one of the most frustrating Detroit sports-bashing quotes in recent time.  After the Tigers were swept in Cleveland, closer Chris Perez told the press, “You look over there and they’ve got Cabrera and Fielder and Verlander and Valverde.  That doesn’t win baseball games.  Good teams win baseball games.”
 
What was even more frustrating about the statement was that Perez did everything in his power to back it up.  Going into yesterday’s game, Perez had pitched 7 innings against the Tigers, allowing just 6 hits and 1 earned run while recording 7 saves.
 
But the Tigers got their revenge in a big way yesterday as the Perez curse was finally lifted.
 
In the bottom of the 10^th, the Tigers were down to their last out with no men on, while an 8-5 deficit loomed over them.  It looked like the too-familiar easy inning for Perez.  But a pair of walks to Alex Avila and pinch-hitter Andy Dirks hinted that there might be hope.  Austin Jackson followed with an RBI-double, and newly acquired second-baseman Omar Infante singled in Dirks and Jackson to tie the game up.
 
In stepped Miguel Cabrera with an opportunity to complete the rally with a Detroit victory.  Speaking after the game, Cabrera said, “It was scary.  It was high.  I was not sure if I hit it out.”  But sure enough, he got just enough of it, barely clearing the fences for his 27^th bomb of the season and the Tigers’ third straight win against the Indians.
 
The sweep certainly comes as a heartbreaker to the Indians.  When Perez opened his mouth at the end of May, the Indians had just taken a 6-game lead on the Tigers, but after yesterday, the Indians trail the Tigers by 8 and the first-place White Sox by 9.5, pretty big holes to climb out of.  Today also marked the team’s 9^th consecutive loss.
 
For the Tigers, the sweep is enormous, starting out August 4-0 after closing out July with just 1 win in their last 6 games.  While Cabrera has added another solid credential to his MVP bid, the Tigers have moved into a tie for first in the AL wildcard race with the Athletics and trail the White Sox by 1.5 games in the Central.  But the next week is going to be a daunting test with four games against the Yankees and three against the Rangers, starting with an ESPN feature tonight with Verlander and Ivan Nova on the mound, so we’ll see where we stand in seven days.