Fister pitches Tigers past Orioles

Baltimore, MD – Doug Fister threw seven strong innings, Miguel Cabrera and Jhonny Peralta homered and the Detroit Tigers beat the Baltimore Orioles 7-2 on Friday night to open a three-game series.

Fister (3-6) began the second half of the season by retiring the first seven batters of the game, then set down 12 in a row between the third and seventh innings.

He allowed three hits and a run while striking out eight and walking none.

Cabrera hit a solo homer and Peralta had a three-run blast, both in the fifth inning, and the Tigers won their sixth game in a row.

"I know it's a good club that's going to play good at some point," said Detroit manager Jim Leyland of his team. "Now we've wracked up six in a row and that's pretty good."

Baltimore starter Jason Hammel (8-6) left the game after injuring his right knee throwing to the first batter in the fourth. He gave up two runs, five hits and a walk and had five strikeouts in his fourth straight loss.

"It's something he's been managing for quite a while," Orioles manager Buck Showalter said of Hammel's knee.

Showalter said the right-hander would have an MRI on Saturday afternoon.

"The good news right now is it doesn't seem to be swelling," he said.

Doubles by Wilson Betemit and Nick Markakis in the third inning gave the Orioles their only baserunners until Matt Wieters singled with two outs in the seventh.

Markakis played his first game since May 29. He had been out of the lineup since having surgery last month for a fractured hamate bone in his right hand.

The Orioles, who ended the first half with a 3-4 road trip, have lost 10 of their last 14 games.

The Tigers hit four singles in the first inning, including Brennan Boesch's two-run stroke to right for a 2-0 lead.

Fister retired the first seven Orioles batters before Betemit doubled with one out in the third. Betemit scored on Markakis' ground-rule double, but the Tigers poured it on over the next two innings.

Alex Avila and Ryan Raburn hit back-to-back doubles off Luis Ayala after Hammel came out in the fourth, scoring a run. Cabrera's 19th homer of the season, a one-out blast to center field, chased Ayala for Dana Eveland in the fifth and Peralta later went the other way to right for a three-run shot to make it 7-1.

After Fister pitched around Wieters' single in the seventh, Phil Coke ran into trouble in the eighth, giving up one-out hits to Betemit and Robert Andino. Coke was pulled with two outs for Joaquin Benoit, who fanned J.J. Hardy to end the inning.

Adam Jones drew a one-out walk off Octavio Dotel in the ninth and scored on Wieters' double before closer Jose Valverde came in to get the last two outs.

Game Notes

The Orioles said Hammel would be further evaluated on Saturday...Baltimore activated outfielder Endy Chavez (strained right hamstring) off the 15-day disabled list and agreed to terms with No. 4 overall draft pick Kevin Gausman, a right-hander from LSU...Peralta hit his sixth homer.