DETROIT _ For a minute on Friday, it looked like the old Tigers.
You know, the way, way, way back Tigers that had the fearsome power of Miguel Cabrera, Victor Martinez and J.D. Martinez at their disposal.
Before it all went sideways and the Tigers gave up eight runs in the fourth inning of a 13-4 loss to the Cleveland Indians at Comerica Park, there was actually a little spark in these Tigers' bats.
And it started with Cabrera, who hit an opposite-field solo home run, his fourth of the season, off Adam Plutko in the second inning. It was also a milestone shot for Cabrera, marking his 469 career homer and pushing him past Chipper Jones and into 34th place on the all-time list.
But it got better. Brandon Dixon followed with his homer to even it at 2-2. JaCoby Jones scored on Christin Stewart's sacrifice fly the next inning and suddenly the Tigers were leading, 3-2, after three innings.
Then came the fourth inning. The terrible, terrible fourth inning.
Everyone was suddenly reminded that these power surges from the current Tigers are exceptions rather than the norm.
Maybe it was the sparse crowd. Maybe it was because it was Tigers' first game at home since Sunday. But there seemed to be a hushed and almost reverent cheer of awe when Cabrera hit his dinger.
It was as though the Comerica Park crowd knew it was watching something that is happening with decreasing regularity. Cabrera's homer was his first in 10 days and only his second since May 25. He entered the game with a woeful .371 slugging percentage.
He's relegated to DH duty, but Cabrera did play in his 63rd game out of 67 this season. It was also the seventh straight game he played.
Starter Ryan Carpenter labored early and needed 73 pitches to get through three innings. Not good for a bullpen that was already taxed coming off Matthew Boyd's four-inning outing the previous night in Omaha, Neb.
Roberto Perez and Jake Bauers led off the fourth with singles and Leonys Martin brought them home when he crushed a 2-0, 89-mph fastball up in the zone that traveled an estimated 435 feet to right field. That gave the Indians a 5-3 lead.
Carpenter then loaded the bases before giving way to Buck Farmer, who should have gotten out of the inning after he struck out Jordan Ludlow and induced Jose Ramirez into a tailor-made double play grounder. But Ramirez's ball bounced off second baseman Harold Castro's glove to score two runs and continue the ugly inning.
Carpenter's pitching line: 3 innings and 6 batters, 8 H, 8 R, 6 ER, 4 BB, 2 K, 1 HR. 92 pitches, 53 strikes.
Not good. Especially coming off Carpenter's previous start, when he lasted just 3 2/3 innings and allowed eight runs on 10 hits in a 12-2 loss to the Minnesota Twins.
In all, Tigers pitchers combined to allow seven earned runs on 17 hits.
As if getting blown out wasn't bad enough, Bauers poured salt in the wound when he completed the cycle with a two-run home run off Blaine Hardy. Bauers was the first Indian to hit for the cycle since ex-Tiger Rajai Davis on July 2, 2016 in Toronto. Both runs were unearned because of Dixon's error, when he ran into Hardy on Ramirez's foul pop up to lead off the inning.
