Major League Baseball

Upton hits 2nd HR of game in 12th, Tigers beat Mariners 8-7

Published Jun. 21, 2016 10:50 a.m. ET

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DETROIT (AP) Justin Upton hit a line drive over the left-field wall in the 12th inning for his second home run of the game, lifting the Detroit Tigers past the Seattle Mariners 8-7 on Monday night.

Upton connected on a 2-2 pitch from Vidal Nuno (0-1) leading off the 12th. Nuno had pitched two scoreless innings.

Miguel Cabrera hit a two-run homer for the Tigers in the first that cleared a brick wall in right-center, bounced off a concrete concourse and out of Comerica Park.

Upton's first homer of the night, a two-run shot that cleared a second tier of bushes beyond the center-field wall, gave Detroit a 7-6 lead in the seventh.

Anibal Sanchez (4-7) worked a scoreless inning for the win.

The Tigers struggled to keep leads all night long, and double plays helped Seattle stay in the game and extend it to extra innings.

Kyle Seager hit a solo homer in a four-run second, which included Seth Smith's go-ahead, two-run single that put Seattle ahead 4-2.

Detroit went back ahead in the fourth on Cameron Maybin's two-run triple. But once again, the Tigers couldn't keep the lead. Adam Lind's two-run homer in the fifth gave the Mariners a 5-4 advantage. It was his ninth homer in 82 at-bats after going deep only once in his first 92 at-bats this season.

After Upton's first home run, Seattle tied it 7-all in the eighth on Leonys Martin's RBI single past a diving Cabrera at first base.

Both starting pitchers lasted five innings and combined to give up 11 runs.

Mike Pelfrey allowed 12 hits and six runs for the Tigers. Detroit's bullpen, which manager Brad Ausmus said was ''shot'' before the game, had three relievers combine to give up one run over the next four innings.

Seattle's Nathan Karns yielded five runs on seven hits and three walks. Upton connected off Nick Vincent in the seventh.

Joaquin Benoit, facing one of his former teams, allowed Cabrera and Victor Martinez to lead off the ninth with consecutive singles before shutting down the Tigers by getting Nick Castellanos to fly out, Upton to hit a popup and Mike Aviles to strike out.

TRAINER'S ROOM

Mariners: RHP Taijuan Walker left the team to have an MRI on his right foot after it bothered him during a five-inning, 88-pitch start Sunday in which he didn't give up a run in a 2-1 loss to Boston. Walker is scheduled to start Friday at home against St. Louis, but that outing might be in jeopardy.

UP NEXT

Mariners: LHP James Paxton (1-2, 2.86 ERA) starts the second game of the four-game series.

Tigers: RHP Justin Verlander (7-5, 3.87) will be on the mound, aiming to win his fourth straight outing.

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