CLEVELAND _ One star the Indians hope can round into form belted his first home run in a Cleveland uniform, another star was roughed up and a late rally in the ninth fell short in a 5-4 loss to the Detroit Tigers Friday night at Progressive Field.
The loss pushed back the Indians' potential clinching of the American League Central Division to at least Saturday.
Trailing 5-2 entering the bottom of the ninth, the Indians _ as has been their recent habit _ made it interesting. Josh Donaldson and Yonder Alonso each singled against Tigers pitcher Shane Greene to put runners on the corners and bring the tying run to the plate. Melky Cabrera brought home a run with a sacrifice fly to center field, making it 5-3.
Yan Gomes followed with a single to right field, again putting the runners on the corners but this time bringing the potential winning run to the plate. Jason Kipnis got a run across by grounding out to first baseman Ronny Rodriguez, who couldn't complete the potential game-ending double play as the Indians made it a one-run game.
That brought up Francisco Lindor with two outs, but Lindor flew out to right field as the rally fell a hit short.
Andrew Miller, recently activated off the 10-day disabled list with a shoulder impingement, was coming off two solid outings that included a couple of scoreless innings and four strikeouts. Friday's appearance wasn't as smooth.
Miller replaced Adam Cimber in the top of the seventh inning with the score tied 2-2 and the go-ahead run on third. Jeimer Candelario, Miller's first hitter, drove a double off the left-field wall to put the Tigers up 3-2. After a fielder's choice and a walk, former Indians catcher Victor Martinez roped a double into the left-center gap to push the Tigers' advantage to 4-2.
The Tigers then scored an unorthodox insurance run in the eighth to make it 5-2. With JaCoby Jones on second base, Neil Ramirez struck out Dawel Lugo on a ball in the dirt that trickled away from catcher Gomes, allowing Jones to advance to third. As Gomes threw to first for the out, Jones rounded third and slid under the attempted tag by Ramirez at the plate.
Josh Tomlin received the start Friday night in part because of the Indians' desire to line up ace Corey Kluber and the rest of the rotation for the postseason, and also to allow Tomlin to log some innings in the hopes that he can find his form down the stretch.
It didn't get off to a great start. Tomlin, who has been plagued by home run issues all year, served up a leadoff blast to Candelario to right field on the third pitch of the game. Tomlin has now allowed 23 home runs in back-to-back seasons, although he pitched in 811/3 more innings last season.
From there, Tomlin mostly settled down. He worked through the second and third innings before doubles by Jim Adduci and Jones gave the Tigers a 2-0 lead.
A couple of former Toronto Blue Jays sluggers tied it 2-2 in the sixth. Facing Tigers starting pitcher Matt Boyd, Edwin Encarnacion belted his 31st home run of the season, a solo shot to left field. Then, on a 3-0 pitch, Donaldson launched a moonshot solo home run that landed in the Home Run Porch. It left Donaldson's bat with a 42-degree launch angle, his highest since at least 2015.
It was Donaldson's first home run with the Indians, and also the first time he and Encarnacion have ever hit back-to-back home runs. Jose Bautista often hit between the two in the Blue Jays' lethal middle-of-the-lineup from a few years ago.
