J.D. EXTENDS HITTING STREAK TO 27 GAMES IN TIGERS LAUGHER

7 Tigers Post Multi-Hit Games

DETROIT, July 20 (AP) - J.D. Martinez extended his hitting streak to a major league high 27 games as the Detroit Tigers pummeled the Cleveland Indians 17-2 at Comerica Park.  The 17-run outburst tied the club high for the year, set just a week ago in a thrashing of the Kansas City Royals, two days before the All-Star break.  The 22-hit attack is the high mark for the Tigers in a single game this year and is only the 11th time this season that a big league team has exceeded 20 hits in a contest.

Martinez had been tied with Matthew Lucroy of the Milwaukee Brewers for the longest hitting streak this year but established the new mark with panache by belting a two-run home run in the bottom of the second inning off Cleveland starter Josh Tomlin.  The home run, following a double off the bat of Victor Martinez, was the Detroit outfielder's 15th of the season, and set the tone for a game that would get out of hand quickly.  In fact, it was just the first of a pair of two-run home runs in the the frame.  Torii Hunter singled right after the Martinez home run and, one out later, Alex Avila belted his sixth homer of the campaign to give the Tigers a 4-0 lead.

It only got worse from there.  Detroit plated five runs in the third, knocking Tomlin out of the game, and building an insurmountable 9-0 lead.  The first six Tigers batters of the inning all banged out hits:  Ian Kinsler singled and was doubled home by Miguel Cabrera; Victor Martinez singled Cabrera to third; J.D. Martinez's base hit plated Cabrera and advanced Victor Martinez to third; Carlos Carrasco replaced Tomlin but immediately yielded Hunter's two-run triple; Nicholas Castellanos then singled Hunter home. 

With the outcome effectively beyond doubt, things settled down until the Tigers added a run in the sixth on Cabrera's RBI-single and then pushed across five more runs in the seventh when, again, the first six batters of the inning all hit safely.  Hunter capped Detroit's scoring with a two-run homer in the bottom of the eighth.  For the game, Hunter had four hits--missing the cycle by a double--scored four runs and drove in four.  After a sluggish start to July, Hunter has now driven home 11 runs in his last nine games.

Meanwhile, Detroit starter Drew Smyly took a three-hit shutout into the eighth inning before tiring a bit and surrendering a two-run homer to Asdrubal Cabrera.  Smyly ended up allowing two runs in eight innings of work, giving the beleaguered Tigers bullpen a much needed rest, and earning his first win since beating Texas on June 24.

The J.D. Martinez hitting streak has been a tour de force.  Martinez is now batting .392 on the season, though he's far short of qualifying for the league lead in hitting as he wasn't regularly inserted in the starting lineup until early June.  During the streak, which began on June 19 with a 3-for-3 outburst in the finale of a four-game series against the Royals at Comerica Park, Martinez is hitting .459 (50-for-109) with a .759 slugging percentage (nine doubles, nine home runs) and 30 runs batted in.  In 14 home games during the streak, Martinez is batting .500 (26-for-52) and slugging .885 (five doubles and five home runs) with 14 runs batted in. 

7/20/2014, Cle14-Det14, Comerica Park

                       1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9     R  H  E   LOB DP
2014 Indians           0  0  0  0  0  0  0  2  0     2  5  0     4  1
2014 Tigers            0  4  5  0  0  1  5  2  x    17 22  0     5  0

Indians              AB  R  H BI   AVG    Tigers               AB  R  H BI   AVG
Kipnis            2b  4  1  2  0  .225    Jackson,A         cf  6  0  1  1  .288
Cabrera,A         ss  4  1  1  2  .234    Kinsler           2b  4  1  1  0  .300
Brantley          cf  4  0  0  0  .318     Suarez           ss  0  0  0  0  .252
Santana,C         1b  3  0  0  0  .252    Cabrera,Mi        dh  5  1  2  2  .318
Raburn            lf  3  0  0  0  .197    Martinez,V        1b  4  2  2  0  .348
 Chisenhall       ph  1  0  0  0  .233     Kelly,D          1b  1  0  0  0  .298
Swisher           dh  3  0  1  0  .173    Martinez,J        lf  5  4  4  3  .392
 Dickerson,Ch     ph  1  0  0  0  .250    Hunter,Tor        rf  5  4  4  4  .251
Gomes,Y           c   2  0  1  0  .245     Davis,R          lf  0  0  0  0  .285
Murphy,Dav        rf  3  0  0  0  .276    Castellanos       3b  5  1  3  2  .225
Aviles            3b  3  0  0  0  .175    Avila             c   5  2  2  3  .203
                     31  2  5  2          Romine,An         ss  5  2  3  1  .275
                                                               45 17 22 16

Indians                          INN  H  R ER BB  K PCH STR   ERA
Tomlin           L 2-8           2.0  8  8  8  0  2  48  33  6.37
Carrasco                         3.0  2  1  1  0  4  50  31  1.78
Adams,A                          1.0  5  4  4  1  0  25  18 18.00
Crockett                         1.0  3  2  2  0  0  13   8  6.17
Axford                           1.0  4  2  2  0  2  24  16  3.63
                                 8.0 22 17 17  1  8 160 106 

Tigers                           INN  H  R ER BB  K PCH STR   ERA
Smyly            W 6-8           8.0  5  2  2  2  7  94  64  5.50
Chamberlain                      1.0  0  0  0  0  1  12   9  2.43
                                 9.0  5  2  2  2  8 106  73 

Cle: Chisenhall batted for Raburn in the 9th
     Dickerson,Ch batted for Swisher in the 9th
Det: Kelly,D inserted at 1b in the 7th
     Suarez inserted at ss in the 9th
     Martinez,J moved to rf in the 9th
     Davis,R inserted at lf in the 9th
     Romine,An moved to 2b in the 9th

2B-Swisher(16), Cabrera,Mi(23), Martinez,V(27), Martinez,J(12), Avila(15). 
3B-Hunter,Tor(1). HR-Cabrera,A(16), Martinez,J(15), Hunter,Tor(6), Avila(6). 
RBI-Cabrera,A 2(49), Jackson,A(34), Cabrera,Mi 2(68), Martinez,J 3(45), 
Hunter,Tor 4(36), Castellanos 2(34), Avila 3(26), Romine,An(17). 
SB-Kipnis(12). K-Kipnis, Cabrera,A, Raburn 3, Swisher, Aviles, Chisenhall, 
Jackson,A 2, Kinsler, Cabrera,Mi, Avila 2, Romine,An, Kelly,D. BB-Santana,C, 
Gomes,Y, Kinsler. WP-Smyly. 
GWRBI: Martinez,J
Temperature: 78, Sky: clear, Wind: out to center at 11 MPH.
Attendance: 40,767
Game Time: 2:39