Lawton, Indians topple Tigers

Struggling closer David Riske finally got his first save of the season.
CLEVELAND (AP) -- Matt Lawton got Cleveland off to a good start and David Riske finally finished off a win.
Lawton hit two homers, scored four runs and drove in four, and Riske earned the Indians' first save this season in a 9-7 win Sunday over the Detroit Tigers.
Cleveland's bullpen entered last in the AL with a 6.69 ERA, three blown saves and 58 hits allowed in 40 1/3 innings.
"Riske was fantastic and 'Law' had a great day," Indians manager Eric Wedge said. "That's the David Riske we know."
Lawton led off the first with his third homer and hit a three-run shot in the fourth -- both off right-hander Jeremy Bonderman (1-1).
It was the sixth multi-homer game of Lawton's career and first since he hit two against Cincinnati last June 28.
Cliff Lee (2-0) allowed three runs and six hits in 5 1/3 innings, striking out six without a walk. Riske, who had blown two saves and entered with an ERA of 15.75, pitched a perfect ninth.
"I wanted to be out there," Riske said. "When I'm struggling -- and hopefully I'm done with that word -- I want the ball. I wanted to get it done."
Strong performance
Lawton was determined, too, especially after the first pitch of the game backed him off the plate.
He hit Bonderman's second pitch 427 feet and over the wall in right-center. Lawton stood and admired his work, then flipped the bat backward -- hitting Ivan Rodriguez.
The Tigers catcher angrily kicked the bat away as Lawton rounded the bases, then had a couple of words for him as he crossed home plate.
"The first pitch was up and in and I got a little excited," Lawton said. "I wanted to hit the next one out. When I did, I got more excited and threw the bat."
The next time up, Lawton was hit in the back by an 81 mph pitch from Bonderman.
"We didn't throw at him," said Rodriguez. "We went inside with a breaking pitch."
In the fourth, after Ronnie Belliard got a broken-bat single and Coco Crisp drew a two-out walk, Lawton hit a 2-0 pitch to right-center for his fourth homer and a 5-0 lead.
Back and forth
A two-run double by Carlos Guillen sparked the Tigers in the sixth. Guillen then stole third and scored on a bloop single to right by Rodriguez to make it 5-3.
Ben Broussard opened the bottom half with his first homer. Jody Gerut later hit a run-scoring single and Travis Hafner an RBI double for an 8-3 Indians lead.
"If we could have held them at 5-3 we had a chance," Tigers manager Alan Trammell said. "How often can you keep coming back?"
Guillen homered and had four RBIs for Detroit, which lost center fielder Alex Sanchez to a strained left groin in the seventh inning.