Tigers 12, Mariners 5: Detroit wins a slugfest in Seattle

SEATTLE -- The Tigers began the second half of the season by pounding 19 hits, including four home runs, to defeat the Seattle Mariners by a score of 12-5 on Monday evening.

Nick Castellanos opened the scoring with a solo home run in the second inning to give the Tigers an early 1-0 lead.  Victor Martinez and J.D. Martinez hit back-to-back solo homers in the fourth inning to make it 3-0. J.D. followed Victor's shot to right field with a monster shot over the center field fence.

Alfredo Simon struggled with his control, escaping damage in the first three innings despite giving up two hits, two walks, a wild pitch, and a stolen base. His sluggishness caught up with him in the fourth inning when he walked the leadoff batter, then gave up a triple to Dustin Ackley into the left-center field gap off the outstretched glove of Anthony Gose, who crashed into the wall but survived the collision without any sign of damage. Ackley scored on a double by Brad Miller to make it 3-2 for Detroit.

The wheels came off the wagon for Simon in the fifth inning. He gave up singles to Robinson Cano and Seth Smith, and then Logan Morrison blasted a three run homer with two outs to make it 5-3, Seattle.

Detroit came right back in the sixth inning when Yoenis Cespedes hit the Tigers' fourth solo home run of the night, ending Iwakuma's evening with Seattle ahead, 5-4. The Tigers loaded the bases against reliever Mayckol Guiape on a pair of singles by Victor Martinez and J.D. Martinez and a walk to Alex Avila. Castellanos delivered two runs with a sharp single up the middle to give the Tigers the lead, 6-5.

With David Rollins replacing Guiape, Anthony Gose dropped a bunt single back to the mound to load the bases again. Andrew Romine singled to drive in another run, and Jose Iglesias reached on a fielder's choice to plate the Tigers' fifth run of the inning. Ian Kinsler grounded into his second double play of the game to end the inning with the Tigers up 8-5.

Blaine Hardy would come on to relieve Simon in with two outs in the sixth inning, ending the roller coaster ride for the Tigers' struggling starter. The Tigers kept piling on in the seventh inning. Five consecutive singles by Cespedes, Victor Martinez, J.D. Martinez, Avila, and Castellanos scored two runs, station-to-station style. After Gose struck out, Romine got his second RBI knock of the game, and Iglesias hit a sacrifice fly to make it 12-5 for the Tigers.

Ian Krol pitched a scoreless inning and Bruce Rondon struck out the side in the ninth to close out the Tiger victory.

ROARS:

Nick Castellanos went four-for-four, with a home run, four RBI, and a pair of runs scored.

Victor Martinez and All-Star J.D. Martinez hit back-to-back homers in the fourth inning, but that wasn't all. Victor had four hits, J.D. had three hits and each player scored three runs.

Yoenis Cespedes hit the Tigers’ fourth solo blast of the night in the sixth inning, crushing one to left-center field.

Andrew Romine had a pair of RBI singles, and Anthony Gose added a triple and a single.

Blaine Hardy struck out three of four batters he faced to earn a hold.

HISSES:

Alfredo Simon allowed five runs, seven hits, two wild pitches, and two stolen bases in five innings of work. He gets the win, but he'll need to pitch better than this if he wants to remain in the rotation.

Ian Kinsler was 0-for-5, grounding into a pair of double plays.

STREAKS AND STATS:

• Alfredo Simon (8-5, 4.18 ERA) has given up 23 runs over 19-2/3 innings in his last four outings. The five home runs allowed in that span are more than he allowed in his previous nine starts. Simon has a 0.93 ERA over seven career relief appearances against the Mariners. Just sayin'...
• The home run by J.D. Martinez was his 15th in the past 24 games.
• Hisashi Iwakuma made his first major league start in over two months, being on the disabled list since April 20. He came into the game 1-1 with a 2.25 ERA in three career starts versus Detroit.
  
• The Mariners won four of six games against Detroit last year. After this three game series, Seattle will visit Comerica Park for a four-game series beginning July 20.

WIN PROBABILITY GRAPH:

Source: FanGraphs