DETROIT (AP) — Dixon Machado led off the bottom of the ninth with a home run, capping a wild final two innings and lifting the Detroit Tigers over the Baltimore Orioles 6-5 on Wednesday.
Detroit led 2-1 before each team scored three runs in the eighth and one in the ninth. Baltimore’s Luis Sardinas tied it with a solo shot off Shane Greene (1-0) in the top of the ninth, but then Machado hit a line drive off Pedro Araujo (1-2) that cleared the fence in left field for only the second homer of the infielder’s big league career.
The game was moved from 6:40 p.m. to 1:10 p.m. in anticipation of bad weather. Although it was a sparse crowd, to say the least, the sun did come out, and those fans in attendance were treated to quite a few homers.
Miguel Cabrera went deep on his 35th birthday, and Jeimer Candelario and John Hicks also homered for Detroit. Hicks hit a three-run shot in the eighth that put the Tigers up 5-4.
Danny Valencia hit a solo homer for the Orioles, who have lost five straight.
Detroit’s Matthew Boyd allowed a run, two hits and three walks in 6 1/3 innings, striking out six. Baltimore’s Kevin Gausman allowed two runs and nine hits in six-plus innings.
Cabrera’s solo homer put the Tigers up 2-1 in the sixth, but Manny Machado and Chris Davis hit RBI singles as part of a three-run rally by Baltimore in the eighth.
UP NEXT
Detroit RHP Jordan Zimmermann (0-0) is to take the mound against RHP Alex Cobb (0-1) in the series finale Thursday.
