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Tigers top Mariners with big seventh inning

Apr 19, 2011 - 6:52 AM Seattle, WA (Sports Network) - Jhonny Peralta's three-run triple capped Detroit's six-run seventh inning, as the Tigers earned an 8-3 win over the Seattle Mariners in the opener of a three-game series.

Brennan Boesch went 2-for-3 with two walks, a run scored and a RBI, while Miguel Cabrera had two hits, three runs scored and also drove one in for the Tigers, who snapped a brief two-game skid.

Max Scherzer (3-0) was credited with the win after yielding six hits, four walks and two runs while fanning seven over six frames.

Milton Bradley and Justin Smoak each homered for Seattle, which has dropped five of its last six overall.

Jason Vargas gave up two runs on six hits and a pair of free passes in his six-inning start, but took a no-decision after Josh Lueke (1-1) retired just one of the five hitters he faced in the seventh.

"Vargas was really good again," Mariners manager Eric Wedge said. "He gave us every opportunity. That's what we're looking for, our starting pitching to give us an opportunity to win ballgames and that's what they're doing."

Brandon Inge started the game-changing inning with a single and eventually scored on a wild pitch. Cabrera added a run-scoring single, and Chris Ray's wild pitch with the bases loaded made it 5-2.

The bags were full again before Peralta emptied them with a fly ball over Ryan Langerhans' head in center.

Smoak homered off Daniel Schlereth in the eighth to cap the scoring.

Three straight singles to start the top of the second -- the last from Boesch -- gave Detroit a 1-0 lead.

Bradley put the Mariners ahead with his two-run shot to center in the third, but Boesch doubled in Cabrera in the sixth to tie it.

Game Notes

Tigers catcher Victor Martinez left the game due to an injured groin. "It's going to be great if I just miss three days," Martinez said after the game...Seattle stranded 11 runners...Bradley's home run ended a streak of 10 straight games the Tigers had not allowed a long ball, their longest streak since 1947.