• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers

Blake's late homer helps Indians edge Tigers in opener

Jul 4, 2007 - 4:23 AM DETROIT (Ticker) -- Casey Blake made sure the Cleveland Indians continue to roll in the Motor City.

Blake delivered the go-ahead homer in the bottom of the 11th inning as the Indians pushed their winning streak to six games with a 5-4 victory over the Detroit Tigers on Tuesday night.

Earlier this season, the Indians came into Comerica Park and took three straight from May 25-27. With the win, they are now three games ahead in the American League Central Division.

Blake hit his 12th homer of the season over the left field fence against Tigers reliever Jose Capellan (0-1), who was making his debut since being acquired from Milwaukee on Sunday.

"I was really just trying to get something going there," Blake said. "Two outs, just trying to have a solid approach at the plate. I just happened to run into a slider, just kind of hung a slider there for me, hit it well, hit it on the barrel."

Tom Mastny (6-2) got out of a bases-loaded situation in the 10th for the win and closer Joe Borowski retired the final three batters for his 25th save for Cleveland, which is 6-2 against the Tigers.

Detroit had a chance to win in the bottom of the 10th with the bases loaded, but Mastny got All-Star Carlos Guillen to pop up and fellow All-Star Ivan Rodriguez to ground out to first.

The Indians tied the game in the eighth, when pinch hitter Ben Francisco belted his third blast of the season against reliever Chad Durbin.

"I felt that the bullpen did a good job" Tigers manager Jim Leyland said. "They got the big outs when they needed too. A couple of bad pitches and that was the game."

Cleveland starter Paul Byrd gave up four runs and six hits with three strikeouts in seven innings. The righthander is 7-2 all-time when facing the Tigers.

"The game could have gone either way many times," Byrd said. "It's a great sign that we come in here and win a game that we very easily could have lost but just hung in there and made the pitches when we had to."

Tigers starter Nate Robertson lasted five innings, allowing three runs and striking out a season-high eight to remain winless since May 19 against the St. Louis Cardinals.

Robertson could have pitched longer, but manager Jim Leyland decided to go pull the lefthander, who just recently came off the 15-day disabled list with a tired arm.

"I felt pretty good out there," Robertson said. "I had good action on all my pitches." I feel that I'm coming back, I got a lot of swings and misses. I still threw a lot of pitches, but I threw a lot of strikes."

In the fifth, Guillen stroked a bases-loaded RBI single off Byrd, scoring Placido Polanco for a 4-3 advantage. Detroit had a chance to add another run, but Gary Sheffield was thrown out at home by left fielder Jason Michaels just seconds after Polanco crossed.

Sheffield, who failed to make the American League All-Star team despite his impressive numbers, smacked his 19th blast in the third. He ranks among the league leaders in RBI (53) and homers.

Rodriguez became just the fourth catcher in league history to be behind the plate for at least 2,000 games, joining Carlton Fisk (2,226), Bob Boone (2,225) and Gary Carter (2,056).

"This was a big moment for me, I'm very happy," Rodriguez said. "I have worked very hard to keep myself healthy and in shape. I feel that I have a lot left in me, I'm going to take it one day at a time and see what happens in the future."