Major League Baseball
Detroit 5, Tampa Bay 1
When: 1:10 PM ET, Sunday, July 3, 2016
Where: Tropicana Field, St. Petersburg, Florida
Temperature: Indoors
Umpires: Home - Hunter Wendelstedt, 1B - Adam Hamari, 2B - Scott Barry, 3B - Tripp Gibson III
Attendance: 13126

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- Ian Kinsler started the Detroit Tigers' rally with a double and scored the tying run in the eighth, then capped a four-game sweep with his 200th career home run in the ninth as Detroit beat the Tampa Bay Rays 5-1 on Sunday at Tropicana Field.

"I really didn't think about it until I crossed the plate, honestly," said Kinsler, whose 16th home run hit a catwalk high above the field and landed in shallow left field, still a home run under the stadium's ground rules. "I've never hit a catwalk before."

It was another late-inning collapse for the Rays (33-48), who opened the series Thursday by giving up eight runs in the ninth inning in a 10-7 loss and have now dropped 16 of 18 games. Detroit (44-38) now heads to Cleveland with momentum and hoping to avenge a three-game sweep last week.

Down 1-0 in the eighth, Detroit rallied for three runs as Kinsler doubled and scored on an RBI groundout from Victor Martinez. With runners at first and second and one out, Martinez hit a grounder to first, where Logan Morrison threw to second to set up the double play, but the throw to first wasn't in time, nor was the throw home as Kinsler slid in.

"That got us going -- great aggressive baserunning," Tigers manager Brad Ausmus said. "The two-run homer didn't hurt, but that really got us going, the baserunning before that."

It only got worse for the Rays, as reliever Xavier Cedeno gave up a single to Nick Castellanos, then a two-run double by Justin Upton to give Detroit a 3-1 lead.

Matt Andriese (6-2) left with a 1-0 lead and two on but took the loss when both inherited runners scored.

"The decision ... with putting Cedeno in, that's probably more on me than anything," Rays manager Kevin Cash said. "You're taking a chance right there ... You anticipate a pull-side ground ball. We didn't get that. It made for a difficult ball to turn, and then things kind of unraveled from there."

At the midway point of the season, the Rays' bullpen has given up runs in 17 of the last 18 games. Detroit added two runs in the ninth when Kinsler crushed home run off reliever Danny Farquhar.

Sunday's late-inning collapse spoiled a strong start by Rays starter Chris Archer, who struck out 10 and held Detroit to three hits in 5 2/3 scoreless innings. Tampa Bay had been 23-4 when leading after seven innings.

Archer's first six outs all came by strikeout after he got himself into a bases-loaded jam.

Archer opened the game by walking Kinsler, giving up a single to Jose Iglesias and walking Miguel Cabrera, loading the bases with no outs. But he struck out the Tigers' 4-5-6 hitters in order -- Victor Martinez, Castellanos and Upton -- to get out of the inning unharmed.

"I was a lot better than the first 18 pitches," Archer said. "It's frustrating, but it's definitely not something I dwell on. ... You have to give your team your best after all that stuff happens, and I think I did a decent job of that today."

The Rays' only hits in the first four innings came on two bunts, but they got on the scoreboard in the fifth. Nick Franklin singled and scored on a double by Curt Casali for a 1-0 lead on Tigers starter Mike Pelfrey.

Detroit had a chance to tie the game in the sixth -- Iglesias singled and the Tigers had first and third with two outs after Castellanos was hit by a pitch. But Andriese came in for Archer and got Upton to line up sharply to shortstop Brad Miller to end the inning and keep the shutout intact.

The Rays had an opportunity to extend their lead in the seventh, loading the bases on a Corey Dickerson double and two walks. With the top of the order up, the Tigers turned to reliever Bruce Rondon, who got Logan Forsythe to strike out and Miller to pop to center to end the inning.

The game played out as it did Thursday, when the Rays couldn't get outs after pulling Andriese in relief. Tampa Bay needed three outs with a 7-2 lead Thursday and couldn't win, as was the case Sunday.

NOTES: Rays OF Brandon Guyer was hit by a pitch for the 16th time Saturday -- most in the majors -- and in doing so tied Carlos Pena's team overall record of 51. Guyer tied the mark in 2,000 fewer plate appearances than Pena. ... Tigers 2B Ian Kinsler homered in the ninth to become only the fourth active player with 200 career homers, 1,000-plus runs, 1,600-plus hits and 200-plus steals, joining Carlos Beltran, Alex Rodriguez and Jimmy Rollins. ... Tigers 1B Miguel Cabrera entered the game needing four RBIs to become the 55th MLB player to reach 1,500 for his career.
Top Game Performances
Starting Pitchers
Detroit   Tampa Bay
Mike Pelfrey Player Chris Archer
No Decision W/L No Decision
6.1 IP 5.2
3 Strikeouts 10
6 Hits 3
1.42 ERA 0.00
Hitting
Detroit   Tampa Bay
Ian Kinsler Player Curt Casali
2 Hits 1
2 RBI 1
1 HR 0
6 TB 2
.500 Avg .333
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Hits HR TB Avg LOB K RBI BB SB Errors
Detroit 8 1 13 .235 22 14 5 5 0 0
Tampa Bay 6 0 8 .188 15 8 1 4 0 0