Branyan, Choo go deep in Tribe victory


June 2, 2010 at 12:05a.m.

Associated Press

DETROIT

The Cleveland Indians ran into the perfect team to give their pitching staff some confidence.

Jake Westbrook gave up a run and was backed by Russell Branyan and Shin-Soo Choo homers, lifting Cleveland to a 3-2 win over the Detroit Tigers on Tuesday night.

Westbrook (3-3) gave up five hits and a walk over 72/3 innings after giving up a combined nine runs in his two previous starts, leading to the Indians starting the day with an AL-worst 4.89 ERA.

“That’s the best game he’s pitched this year,” Cleveland manager Manny Acta said. “That’s only the third game we’ve won this season when we’ve scored three or less runs, so you see how important it was for him to go deep for us.”

Chris Perez stranded two runners in the eighth by getting Magglio Ordonez to pop up. Perez gave up three runs to the New York Yankees without getting an out in his previous outing.

Kerry Wood allowed an unearned run on Alex Avila’s RBI single after Branyan’s two-out error at first base, letting the Tigers pull within a run before earning his third straight save in four chances.

Jeremy Bonderman (2-3) didn’t allow a run until Branyan hit a solo home run in the fifth. Choo followed with a solo shot the next inning, ending an 0-for-19 slump.

“I made two bad pitches,” Bonderman said simply.

Mark Grudzielanek’s RBI single in the eighth gave Cleveland a two-run cushion it needed.

Westbrook had awful results in his previous two starts, but didn’t have any trouble with the offensively challenged Tigers until the eighth inning.

Detroit scored only one run in its previous game, a loss to the Oakland Athletics, after getting shut out by them on Saturday.

It has lost eight of 10 — scoring a combined 19 runs in those losses — since reaching a season-high seven games over .500 on May 20 and sharing the AL Central lead with the Minnesota Twins.

“As a manager, you beat yourself up a bit, but I don’t think you shake up your lineup,” Detroit manager Jim Leyland said. “Our lineup has just been sputtering.”