Cleveland, OH (Sports Network) - Austin Kearns hit an RBI single in the bottom of the 11th inning, as the Cleveland Indians edged the Detroit Tigers, 2-1, in the second part of a doubleheader.
Robbie Weinhardt (0-1) put runners on first and second with two outs in the home 11th. Kearns then laced the ball into left field to give the Indians the victory.
Trevor Crowe's two-out RBI single in the seventh inning gave Cleveland a 4-3 win over Detroit in the first game of the doubleheader from Progressive Field. The Indians have won the first three contests of this four-game set.
Rafael Perez (2-0) pitched 1 1/3 frames of scoreless relief to pick up the win.
Following a rain delay that lasted 1 hour, 53 minutes, Chris Perez took over on the mound for Cleveland in the top of the ninth. Pinch-hitter Johnny Damon led off with a double to left and moved to third on a sacrifice bunt. Chris Perez retired the next two batters to keep it a 1-1 game.
Phil Coke pitched a scoreless bottom of the ninth to send the contest into extras.
The Tigers loaded the bases with nobody out in the opening inning, but Mitch Talbot was able to strike out Miguel Cabrera, induce a weak pop up from Brennan Boesch and retire Brandon Inge on a fielder's choice to keep Detroit from scoring.
Detroit got to the Cleveland starter in the second. Don Kelly led off with a double and moved to third on a Gerald Laird fly out. Kelly was retired trying to score on Danny Worth's ground ball, but Austin Jackson and Ryan Raburn followed with consecutive two-out singles. Worth scored on Raburn's base hit for a 1-0 lead.
A scary moment occurred in the third inning, when Laird was struck behind the plate by a Chris Gimenez broken bat. The bat head, which was not the splintered part of the wood, hit Laird in the neck and left him dazed for several moments. He remained in the game after trainers assessed him with several tests.
Carlos Santana quickly tied it up from there, sending a one-out blast over the center field wall for his sixth home run of the season.
The Indians will recall pitcher Jeanmar Gomez to make his major league debut on Sunday...Tigers starter Rick Porcello gave up one run on six hits in eight innings...Talbot allowed one run on six hits in five frames...The Tigers have lost four in a row.