Tigers’ Rhymes pounds Tribe

Associated Press

DETROIT

Will Rhymes gave yet another reason why the Detroit Tigers should be happy about their prospects for the future.

One day after Austin Jackson and Brennan Boesch became the first pair of Detroit rookies to reach 100 hits in a season since Lou Whitaker and Alan Trammell, it was Rhymes’ turn to take the stage.

Rhymes, in the lineup while Carlos Guillen recovers from a knee injury, had a hit and scored a run in each of the first three innings. He finished with a career-best four hits as the Tigers completed a three-game sweep of the Cleveland Indians with an 8-1 victory Sunday.

“I got lucky in my first at-bat, and after that, I was feeling comfortable,” Rhymes said. “My job is to go out there, play hard, run hard and get on base for the guys who get paid to drive us in. That’s all I’m doing.”

Detroit outscored the Indians 19-3 in the lopsided weekend series, gaining a measure of revenge for a four-game sweep in Cleveland last month.

“I think this was a bit of payback — we got them at our place and now they swept us here,” Cleveland manager Manny Acta said. “We were just overwhelmed by their pitching here. We couldn’t do anything in any of the games.”

After strong performances by Armando Galarraga and Max Scherzer in the first two games, Justin Verlander (14-8) finished the weekend by allowing one run in eight innings.

“We’re all competitive guys — we wouldn’t be at this level if we weren’t — so you want to go out there and one-up the last guy,” Verlander said. “Everyone’s pitching well, so you don’t want to be the one that goes out there and ends the streak.”

The Tigers have had two three-game winning streaks and a three-game losing streak in their last nine games.

“It seems like we were clicking on all cylinders this weekend,” Verlander said. “If we can keep this up for the rest of the season ... well, never say never. It’s a funny game.”

The Indians finished a six-game road trip to Kansas City and Detroit with just one win and are a season-worst 24 games under .500 (50-74).

Verlander (14-8), who has struggled with high pitch counts early in games this season, didn’t throw his 100th pitch Sunday until the eighth inning.