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  Tuesday, Jun. 20 7:05pm ET
Clark leads homer party with two shots
 
  RECAP | BOX SCORE | GAME LOG

TORONTO (AP) -- Even the Detroit teams with Ty Cobb, Hank Greenberg or Al Kaline didn't have a game like this.

Deivi Cruz
Deivi Cruz celebrates a two-run homer in the third, one of his three hits Tuesday.

Tony Clark hit two of Detroit's club-record eight home runs Tuesday night, leading the Tigers to an 18-6 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays.

"You sit there and you watch it and you say 'my goodness,' " Detroit manager Phil Garner said. "Eight home runs. That's pretty good."

Juan Gonzalez, Juan Encarnacion, Bobby Higginson, Robert Fick, Rich Becker and Deivi Cruz also homered for the Tigers, whose previous best was seven homers on May 28, 1995 against the White Sox. The major league record is 10, held by Toronto.

The Tigers entered the game 28th in the majors in home runs with 67 in 64 games.

"We have been questioned about our offense for quite a while. But in the last week we've been coming around," Becker said.

Clark hit a two-run homer in the fourth and a two-run shot in the eighth for his 12th career multihomer game. Clark has seven homers this season.

Fick hit his first of the season.

"No more razzing," he said. "The ball seemed to be carrying tonight."

The Tigers had a 4-0 lead after four batters in the first inning. Higginson hit an RBI single and Gonzalez hit his 13th homer, a three-run shot.

Encarnacion hit a solo homer off Chris Carpenter (6-6) to give Detroit a 5-0 lead in the first. Higginson's two-run homer in the second made it 7-0.

Alex Gonzalez hit a solo shot in the second for the Blue Jays, who have homered in a club-record 18 straight games.

After Encarnacion hit a triple in the third, Matt Dewitt made his major league debut in relief of Carpenter. Cruz hit Dewitt's first pitch for a two-run homer.

Carpenter gave up a career-high nine runs and seven hits and four walks in two-plus innings.

"Our pitching was horrible and that's a gross understatement," Toronto manager Jim Fregosi said.

The Blue Jays narrowed it to 12-6 in the seventh on Alberto Castillo's RBI single, Shannon Stewart's run-scoring double and Raul Mondesi's three-run homer.

Fick hit a three-run homer, followed by Becker's solo shot in the ninth off John Frascatore.

Detroit starter Jeff Weaver (4-6) gave up six runs on eight hits in 6 1/3 innings. He struck out six and walked three.

Clark went 2-for-3 for with four RBI.

"It's nice to see Tony get a couple. He's been struggling," Fick said.

Game notes
Clark is hitting .202. He was in the training room for at least 40 minutes after the game. ... Five of Higginson's 12 home runs have come against the Blue Jays. ... The eight homers given up by the Blue Jays ties a team record last accomplished July 4, 1977 at Boston. . ... Toronto's Carlos Delgado extended his hitting streak to 14 games with a single in the sixth. ... Blue Jays 2B Homer Bush robbed Damion Easley of a hit to center field with a spectacular diving catch in the second inning. ... Weaver allowed six runs in his last start against Toronto.

 


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