Second halves have been unkind to the Detroit Tigers in years past.
No more.
The Tigers creamed the Chicago White Sox 14-4 on Monday and pushed their winning streak to 10 games — all of which have been over Central Division opponents.
Rick Porcello (14-8) gave up three runs on six hits in 6 2/3 innings of work for Detroit, working around a rocky first inning. Porcello walked two batters and gave up a run in the inning, but got out the jam without further damage.
His team did the rest of the work for him.
Ryan Raburn went 4-for-5 and finished a triple short of the cycle, hitting back-to-back homers in the second with Jhonny Peralta that gave Detroit the lead for good.
Detroit chased White Sox starter Jon Danks (6-12) after five innings, allowing eight runs — seven earned — on 11 hits. It was the second time in a row the Tigers hung eight runs on Danks after beating him 8-1 on Sept. 2.
The Tigers started the winning streak against the White Sox in that very start by Danks, a series where Detroit outscored Chicago 35-11, including an 18-2 beating in front of a national TV audience Sept. 4. Detroit then swept Cleveland and Minnesota in back-to-back series and have pushed their AL Central lead to 11 1/2 games.
And tomorrow, the White Sox face Tigers ace Justin Verlander (22-5).
The lopsided score allowed Jim Leyland to get his key players out of the game to keep them fresh for the stretch run. Detroit pulled every starter except Raburn, who moved from second base to right field, and third baseman Brandon Inge.
Detroit blew an already lopsided game wide open with a five-run sixth inning, highlighted by Ramon Santiago’s two-run double that made it 14-2. Detroit scored at least one run from the second to sixth innings.