Indians sputtering but nearing AL Central crown

New York Mets right fielder Brandon Nimmo makes a diving catch of a fly ball by Boston Red Sox's Mookie Betts in the fifth inning of a baseball game at Fenway Park, Friday, Sept. 14, 2018, in Boston. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola)
New York Mets right fielder Brandon Nimmo makes a diving catch of a fly ball by Boston Red Sox's Mookie Betts in the fifth inning of a baseball game at Fenway Park, Friday, Sept. 14, 2018, in Boston. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola)

CLEVELAND -- The Indians' sprint to another division title has turned into a crawl.

Andrew Miller gave up two RBI doubles in the seventh inning as Cleveland's march to a third consecutive AL Central championship was slowed by the Detroit Tigers, who beat the Indians 5-4 on Friday night to end a 10-game losing streak at Progressive Field.

Miller, making his third appearance since coming off the disabled list, relieved Adam Cimber (0-2) in the seventh, but couldn't stop the Tigers from snapping a 2-2 tie.

Jeimer Candelario, who homered in the first off Josh Tomlin, doubled home one run and Victor Martinez also doubled off Miller.

The loss prevented the Indians from clinching the division title, although Cleveland's magic number dropped to one after Minnesota lost to Kansas City. Any celebrating remains on hold for at least another day. More importantly, the Indians dropped to 5-8 in September.

"But it's a long season and guys go through things throughout the course of the season," said Tomlin, the Indians' longest-tenured player. "We've all seen it. We're all just trying to get on the same page, just trying to play out style of baseball as much as we can. Once it clicks and once we get on a roll, it should be pretty good."

Down 5-2, the Indians scored twice in the ninth against closer Shane Greene, who finally retired Francisco Lindor on a fly to right with the tying run at second.

Josh Donaldson homered and went 2 for 4 in his home debut for Cleveland, and Edwin Encarnacion connected for his 31st home run.

Drew VerHagen (3-2) got two outs in the sixth and Greene worked a shaky ninth for his 29th save.

ROYALS 8, TWINS 4 Salvador Perez capped Kansas City's five-run ninth inning with a game-ending grand slam, lifting the Royals to a victory over visiting Minnesota.

ATHLETICS 2, RAYS 1 (10) Khris Davis led off the 10th inning with his major league-leading 42nd home run as Oakland beat Tampa Bay. Davis' drive to center off Jaime Schultz (2-1) was his 40th this season as a designated hitter. Blake Treinen (7-2) went two scoreless innings for the win.

YANKEES 11, BLUE JAYS 0 Aaron Judge returned to the Yankees for the first time since his right wrist was broken seven weeks ago, taking over in right field for the final two innings of New York's romp over visiting Toronto. Masahiro Tanaka (12-5) struck out eight and allowed four hits.

WHITE SOX 8, ORIOLES 6 James Shields (7-16) picked up his first road victory since opening day and Chicago beat Baltimore on a soggy night. Shields allowed two runs and four hits with five strikeouts and one walk over six innings. He had gone winless in his 12 previous road appearances.

NATIONAL LEAGUE

BRAVES 10, NATIONALS 5 Ronald Acuna Jr. went 4 for 5, had two RBI and scored the tiebreaking run in the fourth inning to help Atlanta win its season-best sixth consecutive game. Kevin Gausman (10-10) improved to 5-2 with a 2.61 ERA in eight starts since the Braves acquired him in a trade with Baltimore.

BREWERS 7, PIRATES 4 Christian Yelich, Travis Shaw and Mike Moustakas homered to lead host Milwaukee past Pittsburgh. Orlando Arcia drove in two runs with a bunt double for the Brewers, who stayed a game and a half behind first-place Chicago in the NL Central.

CUBS 3, REDS 2 Ian Happ hit a three-run home run in the seventh inning, Jorge De La Rosa worked a shaky ninth for his first career save and host Chicago topped Cincinnati.

PHILLIES 14, MARLINS 2 Aaron Altherr homered twice and drove in five runs, as host Philadelphia trounced Miami. Roman Quinn, Rhys Hoskins and Mitch Walding also connected for the Phillies. Zach Eflin (10-7) pitched 6 1/3 innings of one-run ball.

INTERLEAGUE

DIAMONDBACKS 4, ASTROS 2 Pinch-hitter Jon Jay's tiebreaking triple in the eighth inning helped visiting Arizona defeat Houston. It was 2-all when Nick Ahmed doubled off Hector Rondon (2-4) with one out in the Arizona eighth. Jay hit a two-out, tiebreaking drive into the right field corner and later scored when a flyball by A.J. Pollock dropped in shallow center field for a single.

METS 8, RED SOX 0 Noah Syndergaard pitched seven innings of three-hit ball and visiting New York hit four home runs to defeat to snap Boston's four-game winning streak. Syndergaard (12-3) struck out six and walked three.

Sports on 09/15/2018

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