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Tigers break free from early deficit, trounce Dodgers

Jul 9, 2014 - 5:16 AM Detroit, MI (SportsNetwork.com) - Rajai Davis went 3-for-4 with three RBI to lead a relentless offensive attack that powered the Detroit Tigers to a 14-5 throttling of the Los Angeles Dodgers at Comerica Park.

Miguel Cabrera and Torii Hunter had three hits and two RBI, and the Tigers hammered out 20 hits in all to overcome an early 5-0 deficit and halt a three- game losing streak. Nick Castellanos and J.D. Martinez both went 3-for-5 in the rout, with Alex Avila contributing a pair of RBI.

After being rocked for five first-inning runs, Justin Verlander (8-7) held Los Angeles scoreless over the next five frames to record his 14th straight interleague start without a loss. He's now 12-0 over that stretch.

Verlander did surrender a two-run homer to Juan Uribe and Adrian Gonzalez drove in two more with a double. However, the Dodgers mustered just three more hits after the opening inning.

"You give up five in the first and it's never a good feeling," said Verlander. "But it's a whole new ballgame after your team goes out and (scores a lot). Then thankfully I was able to keep the offense on offense, have quick innings and keep the momentum on our side."

The bulk of Detroit's offensive damage came against Hyun-Jin Ryu (9-5), battered for 10 hits and seven runs while lasting only 2 1/3 innings.

Uribe's blast into the home bullpen capped the Dodgers' opening-inning ouburst, but Verlander settled down and retired the next 13 Los Angeles hitters as his teammates quickly closed the 5-0 gap.

"He made mistakes in the first inning and then he executed after that," said Gonzalez. "We still had a pretty good line against him. Unfortunately they scored more runs than we did."

Detroit answered by ripping off eight hits and sending 10 men to the plate against Ryu in the bottom of the second.

Hunter started it off with a double in which he was at first ruled out at second on a rocket throw from Dodgers right fielder Yasiel Puig. The call was overturned on replay, and the Tigers followed with four straight singles -- including RBI hits from Avila and Davis -- to get on the board.

A wild pitch from Ryu scored Avila to cut the lead to 5-3, with Ian Kinsler and Cabrera each tallying RBI singles shortly after to knot the score.

Detroit kept hitting Ryu hard in the bottom of third, which began with a Castellanos double and a walk to Avila and later contained a go-ahead single from Davis that chased the Dodgers' starter. Avila eventually crossed the plate on an Austin Jackson sacrifice fly off Jamey Wright for a 7-5 edge.

Wright provided little relief in place of Ryu, with the Tigers loading the bases with none out against the veteran in the fourth. A Castellanos single, a walk to Avila and Eugenio Suarez's base hit accounted for three more runs, while Davis extended the margin to 11-5 with a sac fly that scored Castellanos.

Martinez tripled in the fifth and came around on a Hunter base hit for the Tigers' 12th run, with Detroit's final two coming in the seventh. Cabrera socked a triple into the gap off Paul Maholm to drive in Kinsler prior to coming home on Hunter's third hit of the night.

The Dodgers had come out swinging against an initially shaky Verlander, who walked Puig in the first and gave up a single to Hanley Ramirez before Gonzalez shot a double down the right-field line to score both runners. After a Matt Kemp single put Los Angeles up 3-0, Uribe belted a hanging curve ball for his fifth homer of the season.

Game Notes

Verlander is now 23-2 in 30 all-time starts against the National League and hasn't lost an interleague assignment since June of 2010 ... The Tigers ended 12-of-17 with men in scoring position and were 8-of-10 in those situations against Ryu ... Dodgers manager Don Mattingly was ejected from the dugout by home plate umpire Paul Schrieber with his team at bat in the sixth inning ... Kemp went 3-for-4 and Uribe collected two hits ... Cabrera entered the contest hitless in his last 10 at-bats ... Detroit's Victor Martinez missed a third straight game with a sore back.