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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME LOG
DETROIT (AP) -- Nothing seems to be bugging the Detroit Tigers these days.
Juan Encarnacion and Dean Palmer homered and Deivi Cruz drove in
three runs as the Tigers, who started out 9-23, reached the .500
mark by beating the Seattle Mariners 10-3 Thursday.
|  | | Juan Encarnacion, right, got the Tigers rolling with a solo home run in the first inning. |
There was no recurrence of the insect swarms that plagued
Comerica Park the night before. Though a few of the flying ants
were visible, there were no interruptions and the 36,885 fans could
concentrate on watching the Tigers win for the 11th time in their
last 14 games.
"No bugs," manager Phil Garner said. "It was a beautiful day."
Damion Easley hit a two-run double for the Tigers (63-63), who
won two of three from Seattle to finish a 5-2 homestand. Detroit
got to .500 after misfiring on two earlier chances this week.
"It's been a major objective," Garner said. "We had to get
here before we go anywhere else. Now the fun starts."
Bobby Higginson, who was 3-for-5, said the Tigers can't rest on
just breaking even.
"We could lose tomorrow and be back under," Higginson said.
"I'd rather talk about it if we were five games over."
Detroit started the day 5½ games behind Cleveland in the AL wild-card chase.
"We can't be relieved. It's like we're starting over now,"
Easley said. "We have to keep playing ball the way we've been
playing. If we do we'll be in striking distance."
The Tigers are 54-40 since May 10. They're 25-17 since the
All-Star break, with the wins tying the New York Yankees for most
in the AL in that span.
"We've been playing some pretty good baseball against some
pretty good teams, and I don't see us stepping backwards,"
Higginson said. "We dug ourselves a hole and got out of it. We've
got a month left to see if we can keep playing well and then see
where we're at."
Seattle has lost 10 of its last 11, including five of six
against Detroit.
"It happens sometimes during the year," said Seattle's Edgar
Martinez, who homered. "Our whole year's been really good. Now
we're hitting that time where we can't get a break. It's part of
the game. A lot of teams go through it."
The Mariners, who finished a 1-5 road trip, entered Thursday 3½ games ahead of Oakland in the AL West.
"I really want to try to stay positive. It's pretty easy to do
that when you're in first place," infielder David Bell said.
"We're not playing the way we're capable of. That's obvious. But
as far as I'm concerned, I think the only way to approach it is to
go from here and put everything else in the past. There's
absolutely nothing we can do about it."
Mariners manager Lou Piniella was ejected in the bottom of the
eighth by plate umpire Brian Runge for arguing balls and strikes.
"I got on the umpires on a couple of pitches. I said, 'Where
were they?' I used a word I don't want to mention and that was
that. Then I got my say in," Piniella said. "I'm fine. I'm not pleased. I'm disappointed. It's not
complacency, that I can tell you. These guys are trying. Things
aren't going right, but it's not complacency."
Brian Moehler (11-7) overcame Martinez's two-run homer in the
first inning and extended his career-best winning streak to five
games, also a season-high for the Tigers. He gave up two runs on
six hits in 5 1-3 innings.
Jamie Moyer (11-8) lost his fifth straight start, giving up four
runs on eight hits in six innings. He has an 11.07 ERA during his
losing streak.
The Mariners took a quick 2-0 lead when Al Martin led off the
game with a single and, two outs later, Martinez homered to
right-center. It was Martinez's 31st home run of the season and
second in two days.
But Encarnacion's one-out solo homer was the first of three
straight hits that started a three-run home half. Palmer hit a
sacrifice fly after singles from Bobby Higginson and Juan Gonzalez,
and Cruz had an RBI single.
"We came right back and took the lead," Garner said. "It says
to us, 'They're just not going to beat us."'
Cruz made it 4-2 with another run-scoring single in the fifth. Palmer hit his team-leading 25th homer off Brett Tomko for a 5-2
lead in the seventh. John Olerud hit a sacrifice fly in the Seattle eighth, but the
Tigers put the game away with a five-run home half featuring
Easley's two-run double and RBI singles by Gonzalez and Cruz.
Game notes
Moehler was hit above his left knee by a hard smash single by Olerud in the first. Olerud hit Moehler in the upper body with
another liner that turned into a 1-5-3 out in the fourth. Moehler
was stunned after both plays but remained in the game. ... The
Mariners are 20-21 since the All-Star break. ... Moyer hasn't won
since July 24. ... The Tigers have won or split 15 of their last 18
series and won the season series from Seattle, 7-2.
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ALSO SEE
Baseball Scoreboard
Seattle Clubhouse
Detroit Clubhouse
What's bugging Tigers fans? Swarms of insects at Comerica
Gonzalez '80 percent sure' he'll re-sign with Tigers
RECAPS
NY Yankees 8
Texas 7
Detroit 10
Seattle 3
Baltimore 8
Chi. White Sox 5
Oakland 11
Cleveland 7
Boston 9
Kansas City 7
Cincinnati 8
Philadelphia 3
Los Angeles 7
Montreal 0
St. Louis 12
Atlanta 5
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