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 Kinsler blasted a go-ahead, two-run homer in the eighth inning, his
second home run of the game, leading the Tigers to a 5-4 win over
the Seattle Mariners at Comerica Park.
Kinsler's two-out shot over the left field wall was the first home
run allowed by Seattle reliever Mark Lowe (0-1) this season. The
Tigers second baseman also hit a solo home run in the first inning.
It was Kinsler's 13th career multi-homer game but his first since
Sept. 7, 2011, while playing for the Texas Rangers.
"That's a huge pick-me-up, a huge momentum builder," said catcher
James McCann, who supplied two hits and drove in two runs for the
Tigers (46-46). "That's something that hopefully we build off for
the next week, two weeks, a month."
Detroit floundered most of the season and dropped below .500 on
Sunday for the first time since the third game of the 2013 season.
Al Alburquerque (1-0) pitched an inning of scoreless relief to get
the win, and Joakim Soria collected his 21st save.
Detroit starting pitcher Alfredo Simon gave up four runs on six hits
in 5 2/3 innings despite getting struck by a one-hopper in the early
going.
"It's always fun to win a game late," said Kinsler, who had just
three home runs entering the game. "Simon battled tonight. He took a
ball off the arm early and was still able to get us through six and
keep us in the game. The bullpen did their job, too, to hold the
other team where they're at and give us an opportunity."
Lowe had only allowed two runs this season and none since June 14
before Kinsler crushed a fastball on a 1-2 count.
"He threw all sliders up to that point," Kinsler said. "He's got a
really good fastball -- 96, 97 (mph) -- but he made a mistake. I got
a good pitch and was lucky enough to put a good swing on it."
The Mariners lost for the third time in four games since the
All-Star break.
"That's three tough losses on this road trip where they won by the
long ball late in the ballgame," Seattle manager Lloyd McClendon
said. "That makes it even tougher."
Mariners starting pitcher J.A. Happ, who allowed three runs on four
hits in seven innings, came out after throwing just 87 pitches.
McClendon had no regrets about bringing in Lowe to start the eighth.
"It's a combination of things," he said. "They had some tough
righties coming up. There were not a lot of easy at-bats tonight.
They were grinding some at-bats out, and we had Lowe and his ERA is
(0.62 before the game). We had the guy we wanted, it just didn't
work out."
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Seattle catcher Mike Zunino hit a two-run double and an RBI single.
Second baseman Robinson Cano added a solo home run for the Mariners
(42-51).
Zunino's two-out single in the sixth put the Mariners on top 4-3 and
knocked Simon out of the game. Kinsler erased the deficit two
innings later after shortstop Jose Iglesias hit a one-out double off
Lowe and advanced on a groundout.
Kinsler hit his fourth homer on a first-pitch swing in the bottom of
the first. He was ejected Sunday for pounding his bat into the
ground after flying out.
Zunino, batting .158 entering the game, gave the Mariners a 2-1 lead
in the second with a bases-loaded double to deep center.
McCann got those runs back in the bottom of the inning with a
two-run double down the left field line.
Cano's opposite-field, solo blast tied it at 3-all with two outs in
the fifth. He has three home runs since the All-Star break.
NOTES: Mariners manager Lloyd McClendon tweaked his lineup, moving
2B Robinson Cano to the cleanup spot and putting RF Nelson Cruz in
the No. 3 position. "Maybe it will jump-start us," McClendon said.
... Tigers 3B Nick Castellanos was in the lineup despite getting hit
in the face by a hard one-hopper on Sunday. He had a shiner under
his left eye. "It looks worse than it is," manager Brad Ausmus said.
... Ausmus plans to keep SS Jose Iglesias at or near the bottom of
the order even though the All-Star is batting .321. Iglesias had
four hits against Baltimore on Sunday, and he went 1-for-3 Monday.
"You hate to mess with guys when they're doing well," Ausmus said.
"You just don't know how they'll respond." ... Seattle CF Austin
Jackson, a former Tiger, went 2-for-4. He entered the night hitting
.292 in 336 games at Comerica Park.
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