Major League Baseball
BOXSCORE | RECAP
Detroit 8, Tampa Bay 1
When: 7:08 PM ET, Thursday, July 3, 2014
Where: Comerica Park, Detroit, Michigan
Temperature: 72°
Umpires: Home - Phil Cuzzi, 1B - Quinn Wolcott, 2B - Mark Carlson, 3B - Greg Gibson
Attendance: 33908

Tigers 8, Rays 1: Ian Kinsler and Victor Martinez clubbed two-run homers and Torii Hunter added a solo blast during a five-run first inning to power host Detroit to its fourth straight victory.

Miguel Cabrera collected three hits and scored four times while J.D. Martinez matched Hunter and Victor Martinez with two hits and two RBIs as the Tigers snapped Tampa Bay's five-game winning streak with their 12th victory in 14 games. Max Scherzer (10-3) dominated after allowing a first-inning run, giving up two hits and striking out seven over eight frames while retiring 23 of the last 24 batters he faced.

Veteran left-hander Erik Bedard (4-6) was rocked for six runs on eight hits in only two innings as the Rays lost for just the second time in nine games. Evan Longoria's sacrifice fly accounted for the only run for Tampa Bay, which fell to 6-2 on its 11-game road trip.

The Rays got off to a good start against reigning American League Cy Young Award winner Scherzer as Desmond Jennings doubled on the game's first pitch, moved to third on a flyout and scored on Longoria's sacrifice fly. Detroit answered in thunderous fashion against Bedard as Kinsler and Martinez each belted a homer before an out was recorded while Hunter also went deep for a 5-1 advantage.

J.D. Martinez added a two-out run-scoring single in the second and Hunter, who had three RBI singles on Wednesday, added another in the fourth to make it 7-1. Scherzer permitted a two-out single by James Loney before setting down the final 13 batters he faced.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Tigers DH Victor Martinez returned to the lineup after a three-game absence to contribute to Detroit's three-homer first inning, the first time the Tigers have hit three in the opening frame since June 18, 2006 against the Chicago Cubs. ... Bedard had surrendered five homers in 42 career innings against Detroit prior to the first-inning eruption. ... Cabrera registered his 100th three-hit performance with the Tigers, tying for 10th place in franchise history, while Kinsler has hit safely in 12 of 13 games.
Top Game Performances
Starting Pitchers
Tampa Bay   Detroit
Erik Bedard Player Max Scherzer
Loss W/L Win
2.0 IP 8.0
0 Strikeouts 7
8 Hits 2
27.00 ERA 1.12
Hitting
Tampa Bay   Detroit
James Loney Player Miguel Cabrera
1 Hits 3
0 RBI 0
0 HR 0
1 TB 5
.333 Avg .750
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Hits HR TB Avg LOB K RBI BB SB Errors
Tampa Bay 2 0 3 .071 3 8 1 1 0 0
Detroit 15 3 26 .405 14 5 8 2 0 0