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Major League Baseball
Detroit 10, Chi. Cubs 8
When: 8:05 PM ET, Tuesday, August 18, 2015
Where: Wrigley Field, Chicago, Illinois
Temperature: 79°
Umpires: Home - Gerry Davis, 1B - Tony Randazzo, 2B - Toby Basner, 3B - Phil Cuzzi
Attendance: 39684

CHICAGO -- The Detroit Tigers used 18 players, nearly tapped out the bullpen and had some nervous moments in the ninth.

But after Chicago Cubs scored twice, they but got no closer as the Tigers prevailed 10-8 in a storm-delayed contest on Tuesday.

"We didn't have a lot of clean innings out of the bullpen other than (right hander Alex) Wilson," said Tigers manager Brad Ausmus. "As pitch counts go up it puts more stress on bullpen the next day because certain guys can't come back. We need to do a better job. Of course the rain didn't help."

J.D. Martinez's sacrifice ignited a three-run eighth. The runs came off Cubs right-handed reliever Pedro Strop, who loaded the bases with none out.

The Cubs (67-50) suffered their second straight loss while the Tigers (57-61) won their third in five outings.

Martinez's sacrifice snapped a 6-6 tie and drove in center fielder Anthony Gose. Third baseman Nick Castellanos scored second baseman Ian Kinsler and first baseman Miguel Cabrera for a 9-6 lead.

Gose made it 10-6 in the ninth, coming home on Kinsler's one out sacrifice to center.

Cubs first baseman Anthony Rizzo drove in left fielder Kyle Schwarber with a ninth inning fielder's choice and second baseman Chris Coghlan scored from third on a Bruce Rondon balk to make it 10-8.

But the Tigers right-hander struck out third baseman Kris Bryant to end the game.

Strop, the sixth of seven Cubs pitchers, allowed three earned runs on three hits, walked two and struck out a pair in one inning and fell to 1-6.

Tigers right-hander Al Albuquerque (3-0) pitched one-third inning in the seventh for the victory.

Kinsler, Martinez and Gose each homered for an early 5-2 Tigers lead before the game was delayed 2 hours, 17 minutes by severe weather.

"We had good at-bats against Hamel, we had good at-bats late as well," said Ausmus. "So the offense did its part."

Schwarber narrowed the lead to 6-5 with a three-run homer in the fifth.

Rizzo tied the game at 6-6 in the seventh with a two-out RBI double to drive in center fielder Dexter Fowler.

The tie got Cubs starter Jason Hammel off the hook for a loss. He had allowed five runs on nine hits, struck out six and walked one through three innings, his shortest outing of the season.

"His stuff is really good, when you talk about velocity you saw some really good breaking balls primarily to the left-handers," said Cubs manager Maddon. "He's healthy, so for me it's almost like he's trying way too hard and he's trying to overthrow a little bit to compensate."

Tigers starter Anibal Sanchez left with a lead after 2 1/3 innings with a runner on second base and was replaced by left-hander Tom Gorzelanny when the game resumed.

Detroit grabbed a 3-0 first inning lead off Hammel. With one out, Kinsler sent a 2-2 pitch to the left-field basket for his seventh homer and a 1-0 advantage.

Cabrera then launched a first pitch to left that was caught by a fan in front of a concrete barrier, but beyond the left-field basket. An initial home run ruling was overturned and Cabrera settled in at second with a ground-rule double.

Cabrera promptly came home on the next pitch when Martinez homered to center for his team-high 31st of the season.

The Cubs got two runs back in the bottom of the first on second baseman Chris Coghlan's 14th homer. The two-run shot to left came on a 3-1 pitch with one out and brought home Schwarber, who had walked.

The Tigers clubbed their third homer with one out in the second. Gose sent a two-run shot to left that brought home shortstop Jose Iglesias for a 5-2 lead.

Detroit added a run for a 6-2 lead in the fourth when Kinsler scored on a two-out infield single by Tyler Collins.

Schwarber prevented another Tiger run in the fifth when he fired to catcher Miguel Montero to tag Detroit shortstop Jose Iglesias at the plate following a two-out single from Kinsler.

"It was a great throw, he knew he had a shot," said Maddon. "I was in agreement with the throw because if he made it on the line he had him. And a nice play by Miggy, too."

In the bottom of the frame, the Cubs left fielder slammed a two-out homer to right -- his ninth of the season -- to score shortstop Addison Russell and Fowler and cut the Tiger lead to 6-5.

That also marked the end for right-handed reliever Buck Farmer, who worked 1 1/3 innings.

NOTES: Tigers 1B Miguel Cabrera made his second straight start at first base and third start since coming off the disabled list last Friday. ... Detroit and Chicago split two games at Comerica Park on June 9-10. The Tigers sent LHP Daniel Norris (2-2, 4.24 ERA) against Clubs LHP Jon Lester (8-8, 3.21 ERA) in Wednesday's series wrap-up. ... Chicago has two scheduled inter-league games remaining -- both makeups: Cleveland (Aug. 24) and Kansas City (Sept. 28).
Top Game Performances
Starting Pitchers
Detroit   Chi. Cubs
Anibal Sanchez Player Jason Hammel
No Decision W/L No Decision
2.1 IP 3.0
2 Strikeouts 6
3 Hits 9
7.71 ERA 15.00
Hitting
Detroit   Chi. Cubs
Ian Kinsler Player Dexter Fowler
5 Hits 2
2 RBI 0
1 HR 0
9 TB 3
1.000 Avg .667
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Hits HR TB Avg LOB K RBI BB SB Errors
Detroit 19 3 32 .442 19 13 10 3 1 0
Chi. Cubs 11 2 21 .306 13 9 7 5 0 0