Avila Powers Tigers Past Cleveland 5-4, Stay In First

Alex Avila's two run home run with two outs in the bottom of the eighth inning put the Detroit Tigers ahead for good as they rallied past the Cleveland Indians 5-4 Friday night at Comerica Park. Detroit (82-66) fell behind early 2-0 on a home run from Michael Brantley in the first. Detroit then rallied in the third to take the lead 3-2 on a solo shot courtesy of Victor Martinez. Cleveland (76-71) took the lead back when Mike Aviles drove in two runs with a double in the fifth and held the lead until Avila's late heroics. Joba Chamberlain (2-5) earned the win in relief of starter Kyle Lobstein and Joe Nathan earned his 31st save. Bryan Shaw (5-4) served up Avila's homer and took the loss for the Tribe. The two teams conclude their weekend series Sunday afternoon. Justin Verlander (13-12) gets the start for Detrot and Trevor Bauer (5-8) takes the hill for Cleveland. Pregame coverage begins at 12:40pm on Lansing's Big Talker 1240 WJIM.