DETROIT — Miguel Cabrera did not hit No. 500.
But the Detroit Tigers got the win.
Eric Haase broke a 4-4 tie with Cleveland in the eighth inning, dropping a bases-loaded bloop single into shallow left-center field. A Dearborn Divine Child graduate, Haase plated two runs to give the Tigers (58-61) a 6-4 victory in front of a season-high 32,845 fans Saturday at Comerica Park.
Detroit is 49-37 since May 8 and 18-10 since the All-Star break.
Cabrera finished 1-for-2 with a single, a walk and a hit-by-pitch. Before his eighth-inning walk, the 38-year-old shot a line drive down the right-field line. The ball had enough distance for his 500th career home run, but it went about 10 feet foul.
Left-hander Gregory Soto pitched a scoreless ninth inning to record his 15th save.
Getting started
Although Cabrera finished without a home run, he got the Tigers started with two outs in the first inning, driving a single to left field for hit No. 2,951 in his 19-year career.
Jeimer Candelario jumped ahead 2-0 in the count and received a fastball down the middle from Cleveland starter Sam Hentges. He pulled the ball down the right-field line and over the wall, giving the Tigers a 2-0 lead.
Candelario's ninth home run — and second in his past five games — extended his hitting streak to 10 games.
The Tigers went ahead 3-1 in the second inning behind back-to-back singles from Willi Castro and Victor Reyes. While Reyes was at the plate, Castro picked up his fifth stolen base to advance into scoring position. He touched home plate on Reyes' single to right. (In the fourth, Castro stole his sixth base.)
Cleveland pulled Hentges, a 25-year-old left-hander, after two innings. He allowed three runs on four hits and zero walks, striking out three batters and throwing 44 pitches. Righty reliever Trevor Stephan took over, and the Tigers quickly adjusted.
With two outs in the fourth, Zack Short lined a single up the middle for a 4-1 lead. His first hit since July 28 snapped an 0-for-30 slump, including an 0-for-27 mark in his past 11 games. The Tigers used Short's single and walks from Reyes and Robbie Grossman to load the bases, but Jonathan Schoop grounded out.
Chasing Peralta
Wily Peralta started for the Tigers and wiggled through four innings, but in the fifth, Cleveland chased the veteran right-hander from his outing with one out. He allowed three runs on six hits and three walks, striking out six batters.
The fifth inning started with a four-pitch walk to Myles Straw. Peralta got one out but no further, as Jose Ramirez cranked a right-center triple to score Cleveland's second run, and Franmil Reyes drove him in with a single to right.
Those RBI hits trimmed the Tigers' lead to 4-3 and chased Peralta from the game.
Before Peralta exited, he worked around difficult jams.
He put runners on the corners to start the third inning but got shallow fly outs against Ramirez and Reyes to left and right field, respectively. Strong throws from Castro and Grossman in the outfield helped hold Straw at third base. Peralta ended the inning by striking out Wilson Ramos with a split-changeup.
Peralta allowed his first run in the second. He walked Ramos and served up an RBI double to Oscar Mercado. The inning could have gotten away from him, but he struck out the next three batters: Yu Chang (slider), Andres Gimenez (split-change) and Ernie Clement (split-change).
When manager AJ Hinch pulled Peralta, he turned to trusted reliever Kyle Funkhouser, who needed just five pitches to record the final two outs of the inning.
How bullpen performed
Funkhouser continued into the sixth inning but conceded back-to-back one-out walks. Ahead by one run, he bounced off the mound with energy after getting Straw to ground into a 6-3 double play.
In the seventh, Jose Cisnero dug himself into a hole. Zimmer and Ramirez got into scoring position with a single and double, respectively. Although Cisnero retired the next three batters, Ramos' groundout pushed Zimmer home for a 4-4 tie.
Michael Fulmer kept Cleveland from scoring in the eighth.
