DETROIT (AP) — Miguel Cabrera helped the Detroit Tigers finish off their second sweep on a homestand in which they won twice as many games as they lost.
Detroit, though, dropped a three-game series against the AL Central-leading Cleveland Indians in the middle of the nine-game stretch at Comerica Park to stunt any sort of celebration.
"We're in third place," Cabrera said after hitting one of three homers for the Tigers in their 10-3 win over the Miami Marlins on Wednesday. "We have a long way to go."
Indeed.
The surging Indians started the day with a 7 1/2-game lead over Detroit and a six-game cushion ahead of second-place Kansas City.
"You don't want to get swept three games by the team you're chasing, so that was kind of a downside of the homestand," Tigers manager Brad Ausmus said. "But 6-3 is a good homestand."
Cabrera hit his 18th homer of the season in the fourth inning, tying Billy Williams at No. 48 on baseball's career list with 426. Cabrera's latest shot soared into the seats in left-center in a matter of seconds.
"It's something you don't see very often and I get to see it every time he hits one," teammate Ian Kinsler said. "It's a lot of fun to watch."
Steven Moya and Jarrod Saltalamacchia cleared the fence in consecutive at-bats in the fifth, giving Detroit an 8-2 lead.
Marlins reliever Dustin McGowan gave up all three homers, matching a career high.
The Tigers built a cushion right away with a four-run first, getting two runs on Victor Martinez's single off Tom Koehler.
"It's always going to be tough when you are behind the 8-ball at the end of the first inning, but we got those two runs in the second and got ourselves right back into the game," Miami manager Don Mattingly said. "The problem is that we gave one run back, and that just takes all the momentum away from you. It got sloppy after that."
Daniel Norris (1-0) struck out a career-high eight and gave up two runs on eight hits and a walk over five innings.
Norris started for the second time this season, replacing Matt Boyd in the rotation after he was sent to Triple-A Toledo earlier this month. Ausmus said Norris will make at least one more start.
The Marlins put two on in the first before Norris struck out Marcell Ozuna looking and Giancarlo Stanton swinging to end the threat.
"With the traffic, the strikeouts became very important," Ausmus said.
Koehler (6-7) allowed five runs and eight hits in three innings.
"I don't think I ever got settled in," he said. "That's a great lineup, and they just made me work for everything I got."
Koehler had won three straight, and was coming off five starts in which he lasted six innings each time.
Ichiro Suzuki had two hits for Miami, increasing his major league total to 2,988.
Martin Prado had four hits for the third time this season for the Marlins.
TRAINER'S ROOM
Marlins: Ozuna, who missed Miami's last two home games with a sore wrist, was able to play in both games against Detroit.
Tigers: Moya played after testing a knee injury Wednesday morning that he sustained Friday, leading to him missing the next two games.
UP NEXT
Marlins: LHP Wei-Yin Chen (4-2) will start for Miami when its road trip continues Thursday night at Atlanta.
Tigers: RHP Jordan Zimmermann (9-4) takes the mound for Detroit when it begins a road trip Thursday night at Tampa Bay.
