Indians win delayed game

CLEVELAND (AP) — Mike Napoli found the perfect way to lift up a weary baseball team.

Napoli hit a tiebreaking two-run homer in the seventh inning and the Cleveland Indians remained perfect in 10 games against the Detroit Tigers this season with a 5-3 victory on Monday night that ended Tuesday morning.

Rain postponed the start of the American League Central showdown until 9:31 p.m. The game was scheduled to begin at 7:10 p.m.

The win also ended Cleveland’s two-game skid that followed a franchise-record 14-game winning streak set with a 19-inning victory in Toronto on Friday. The Indians dropped the final two games of the series and saw the start of Monday’s game delayed by rain for 2 hours, 21 minutes.

“We’ve got some guys who are tired and grinding to the All-Star break,” Napoli said. “You get on that run and then lose two and you’re like, oh what’s going on? We understand we have to finish strong so we can get some rest.”

The win came in front of a crowd of 34,163, the Indians’ second sellout of the season and first since opening day. Cleveland has outscored Detroit 65-23 this season and the Indians now lead the Tigers by 6 1/2 games in the AL Central.

Napoli hit an 0-1 pitch from Bruce Rondon (2-1) into the left-field bleachers, helping the Indians to their 12th straight win at home.

“He throws pretty hard,” Napoli said. “I was trying to stay short to the ball and I caught it right.”

“We don’t live by the home run a ton but when he’s up, that’s why he’s here,” Indians manager Terry Francona said. “We like to get to him and let him take three good swings.”

Jeff Manship (1-1) pitched 1 1/3 scoreless innings and Cody Allen worked the ninth for his 18th save. The game ended when Jose Iglesias bounced into a double play. Iglesias was called safe at first, but it was reversed after a replay review.

Nick Castellanos and Steven Moya homered for Detroit, which had won six straight.