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Cabrera powers Tigers past Indians

Jul 9, 2008 - 3:00 AM DETROIT (Ticker) -- The heavy-hitting Detroit Tigers gave the Cleveland Indians a harsh reality check: A pitching rotation without CC Sabathia can be very brittle.

Miguel Cabrera went 4-for-4 with two home runs and the Tigers wore out Indians starter Jeremy Sowers in a 9-2 victory on Tuesday.

Cabrera capped off a four-run third inning with a two-run homer against Sowers (0-5), who took the turn of Cleveland's recently dealt ace in the rotation. Cabrera also added a solo shot in the seventh to give the Tigers an 8-2 advantage.

"I felt good tonight and I got the ball good," Cabrera said. "We won the game, that's more important.

"It doesn't matter what team you play. You have to focus, win games and focus on your team."

Sowers was tagged for seven runs and 10 hits in 5 2/3 innings.

"(Sowers) pitched better early in this game than in any of his last few outings," Cleveland manager Eric Wedge said. "His command was better. They just hit good pitches. He's young, he's learning and he still makes mistakes."

The Tigers, who lead the majors with 21 victories since June 7, gave starter Justin Verlander more than enough support to earn his fourth straight winning decision.

Verlander (6-8) hasn't fared well against the Indians, going 0-4 with a 9.14 ERA in his last four starts. Two of those losses came this season in which he gave up eight runs, 12 hits and eight walks in 12 innings.

On Tuesday, though, the righthander tossed seven brilliant innings, allowing two hits, and struck out seven.

"(Verlander) stepped up, obviously, and we're seeing more and more of what we got," Detroit manager Jim Leyland said. "I think we still have to be patient. We don't ask him to carry the team. Whatever he does is good for us, whenever he makes contributions. But it's a process and let it play out. Lately he's been coming up big."

Verlander's only blemish came when Jhonny Peralta connected on a two-out, two-run homer in the first. The lone baserunner he allowed after that was a third-inning walk to Grady Sizemore.

"We took the lead early and just didn't get any more opportunities," Wedge said. "Verlander just took command after the first."

Prior to Cabrera's blast in the third, Curtis Granderson smacked an RBI single and came around to score on Marcus Thames' double against Sowers.

"(Cabrera and Thames) have been swinging the bat really well," Verlander said. "They picked me up tonight. I put us in a hole early and these guys have been doing well for me the last few games. I said it early in the year a lot that these guys are going to pick me up, it's just a matter of time. The last few games they've done that."

The Tigers added two runs in both the fifth and seventh innings, contributing to the Indians' ninth consecutive loss.