Clark's Record HRs Lead Tigers
Switch-hitter Tony Clark set an AL record by homering from both sides of the plate for the third time this year and Brian Moehler pitched his third shutout as the Detroit Tigers defeated Tampa Bay 8-0 Saturday night.
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Moehler (12-7) pitched a five-hitter and took over the league lead in shutouts. The Tigers stopped a four-game losing streak and ended the Devil Rays' six-game home winning string.
Clark hit a two-run homer right-handed off Wilson Alvarez during a four-run first-inning. He added a left-handed solo shot off Rick White in the seventh.
San Diego's Ken Caminiti set the major-league mark of homering from both sides in a game four times in 1996. Mickey Mantle and Eddie Murray each did it twice in two different years in the AL; Chili Davis, Roberto Alomar and Melvin Nieves each did it twice in one season.
Clark also extended the longest hitting streak of his career to 13 games.
Moehler has won three of his past five road starts after starting the season 0-5 away from Tiger Stadium. He struck out four and walked one in setting a career high for wins.
Gabe Alvarez drove in four runs, his fourth four-RBI game since being recall from Triple-A Toledo on June 22.
Alvarez's two-run double and Clark's homer keyed a rare first-inning Detroit uprising. The Tigers have scored in the first inning just 24 times in 108 games this season, getting outscored 94-46.
Alvarez (5-9) lasted five innings, allowing five runs and seven hits. In two starts against Detroit this year, the left-hander has given up 11 runs in 7 /3 innings.
The Devil Rays fell one game short of tying the 1961 Washington Senators for the longest home winning streak by an expansion team. Overall, Tampa Bay lost for just the second time in nine games.
Alvarez had an RBI double in the third and a run-scoring single in the seventh. Brian Hunter hit a solo homer in the eighth.
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