Indians 7, Tigers 6

DETROIT – Jody Gerut’s home run in the 10th inning sent the Cleveland Indians to a 7-6 victory over Detroit, ending the Tigers’ six-game winning streak.

Dmitri Young hit a grand slam for Detroit, and Bobby Higginson tied it at 6 with a homer off David Riske in the ninth inning. The Tigers then looked as though they might win another game in dramatic fashion when Ivan Rodriguez doubled and Young was walked intentionally.

But Riske (4-2), getting a second chance to be Cleveland’s closer, struck out Carlos Guillen and got Craig Monroe to pop out, ending the inning.

Gerut homered to right on a 2-2 pitch from Ugueth Urbina (3-3) with one out in the 10th, and Rick White got three outs for his first save.

The Tigers won three straight on game-winning home runs before coasting to a 12-5 win over the Indians on Wednesday. Detroit had a chance to win seven straight for the first time since 1993, the last season it had a winning record.

Matt Lawton’s three-run homer in the third inning and Ronnie Belliard’s go-ahead single in the sixth helped Cleveland avoid a three-game sweep.

Young’s third career slam in the fifth gave the Tigers a 5-3 lead, but it wasn’t enough.

Cleveland went back ahead with a three-run sixth.

Travis Hafner hit a leadoff double and scored on Gerut’s double. Ben Broussard followed with a sacrifice fly before Belliard’s single put the Indians ahead 6-5.

Cleveland’s Cliff Lee had a lackluster outing – allowing five runs and six hits in five innings – after serving a six-game suspension for throwing behind Ken Griffey Jr. on June 13.

Detroit’s Jason Johnson, who allowed only one run and one hit in his last start, gave up six runs and nine hits in 7 1-3 innings this time.

After two hitless innings, Johnson gave up two singles before Lawton hit his 12th homer in the third.

Higginson had an RBI double in the bottom of the inning.

Omar Infante and Higginson singled in the fifth, and Rodriguez walked to load the bases, setting up Young’s 374-foot slam to left.

Infante and Higginson singled again in the seventh, but Detroit’s top three hitters – Rodriguez, Young and Guillen – couldn’t get on base against Matt Miller.

Rodriguez was 2-for-3 with two doubles and two walks, one game after becoming the first major leaguer to hit .500 in a month since Colorado’s Todd Helton in May 2000. Rodriguez extended his hitting streak to 11 games.

Notes: Lee was acquired two years ago from Montreal in the Bartolo Colon trade. His only loss this season was on June 3. … Young hit his first grand slam with the Tigers, and his first since he hit one three years ago with Cincinnati. … The game was not televised in the Detroit or Cleveland area.

AP-ES-07-01-04 1646EDT