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Patience is paying off for the Detroit Tigers.
The Tigers drew seven walks in the sixth inning against Cleveland on Friday night, and all seven runners scored. Brandon Inge hit a triple and grand slam as Detroit pushed across 11 runs in the inning, and the Tigers went on to rout the Indians 17-3.
``From the beginning of the season, I could tell how much more patient this team has become,'' Inge said. ``Last year, we swung at the first pitch that was near the strike zone, but this is a better team now, and we know how to wait for something to hit.''
Eric Munson added a two-run homer and a bases-loaded walk in the Tigers' biggest inning since scoring 13 runs in the ninth of a 19-6 win at Texas on Aug. 8, 2000.
``This is just a completely different team than last year,'' Munson said. ``We are taking professional at-bats.''
It was the most runs by a team at Comerica Park, which opened in 2000, topping Detroit's 16-3 win over Toronto on June 13 of the first season.
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Jeremy Bonderman (2-1) allowed three runs, five hits and five walks in five
innings. Last year, he didn't get his second win until May 4, his sixth start.
Detroit rapped out 16 hits and improved to 10-7. Last year, the Tigers didn't get their 10th win until May 22, when they were 10-35.
``I pitched five good innings and kept us in the game for our great hitters to take over,'' Bonderman said. ``Right now, we know that our guys are going to get us at least four runs almost every night. That's huge -- it takes a lot of pressure off the pitching staff.''
Esteban Yan pitched four innings of one-hit relief for his first save.
Jason Davis (0-2) lost to the Tigers for the second time in six days, allowing six runs and nine hits in five-plus innings.
``I felt good, but they were hitting my pitches,'' Davis said. ``When I made mistakes, they hit those, too. That's a good lineup now.''
Cleveland led 3-1 before the Tigers went ahead in the fourth on RBI singles by Craig Monroe, Munson and Fernando Vina.
AP - Apr 23, 11:00 pm EDT
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Munson's two-run homer in the sixth chased Davis, and Inge greeted David Lee
with a triple. Vina and Carlos Guillen walked, and Ivan Rodriguez hit a three-run
double.
Jason Anderson retired White, Detroit's seventh hitter of the inning, for the first out, then intentionally walked Bobby Higginson. After Monroe walked, reloading the bases, Anderson walked Carlos Pena and Munson, forcing in two more runs. Inge followed with his first career slam.
``That felt good,'' said Inge, who is hitting .417 after entering the season with a career .198 average. ``I'm not a power hitter, so I was just looking to hit something into a gap, and I ran into one.''
It was the first time the Indians allowed 10 or more runs in an inning since Minnesota scored 10 times during a win on June 4, 2002.
``Obviously, that inning just dominoed on us,'' Cleveland manager Eric Wedge said. ``We sent J.D. out there to try to keep the game tight, and after the homer, we got him out of there and wanted to keep ourselves close. After that, we were just trying to get through it.''
Cleveland had gone on top in the first on Jody Gerut's RBI double, but Detroit tied it in the bottom half on Higginson's infield single with the bases loaded.
Ben Broussard hit a two-run double in the fourth.
``We swung the bat well, and we knew when not to swing it,'' said Rondell White, who had an RBI single in the eighth. ``You have to be patient, not justto take pitches, but to be ready for the ones you can hit.''
Notes
Detroit went out 1-2-3 in the second, but could have easily had two more hits.
2B Ronnie Belliard made a diving stop of Pena's grounder to start the inning
and Gerut dived to catch Inge's sinking liner to right for the thirdout.