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Cespedes powers Tigers past Indians

Jun 23, 2015 - 5:17 AM Cleveland, OH (SportsNetwork.com) - Yoenis Cespedes homered among his three hits and knocked in three runs to help the Detroit Tigers beat the Cleveland Indians 8-5 in the opener of a three-game series on Monday.

Victor Martinez had a two-run single for Detroit, while Miguel Cabrera went 2- for-3 with two walks and one RBI.

The Tigers have taken eight of 10 meetings between the teams this season, with Cabrera batting .649 (24-for-37) with 16 RBI.

"For whatever reason, we seem to bring out the best in them, which isn't a good thing," said Cleveland manager Terry Francona.

Pinch-hitter David Murphy and Roberto Perez belted solo home runs in the last two innings for the Indians.

Neither starting pitcher made it out of the fourth.

Detroit left-hander Kyle Ryan gave up three runs on six hits and two walks in 3 2/3 innings.

Cleveland right-hander Trevor Bauer (6-4) was charged with seven runs in three-plus innings. He allowed nine hits and walked four in his shortest outing of the season.

The Tigers scored a run in each of the first three innings, but the Indians tied it with three in the third.

Jason Kipnis hit a two-run double to right-center field, giving him a career- best 17-game hitting streak and extending his hitting streak at home to 26 consecutive games. He later scored on a single by Michael Brantley.

Detroit, however, quickly responded with four runs in the fourth.

Cabrera drew a bases-loaded walk ahead of a two-run single by Martinez.

Jeff Manship replaced Bauer and gave up a sacrifice fly to Cespedes, who had an RBI double in the first and led off the third with a blast to right-center field.

The Indians looked to answer in the bottom of the fourth, loading the bases with two outs, but Blaine Hardy got Kipnis to fly out to right to end the inning.

Hardy (3-1) retired all seven batters he faced in relief of Ryan.

"I got (Ryan) earlier probably than he would have liked, but I just felt like we needed to get a big out with the bases loaded," said Tigers manager Brad Ausmus.

Game Notes

The Tigers have won 19 of their last 24 games in Cleveland ... Detroit was 3- for-11 with runners in scoring position.