Tigers Overpower Wells, Jays

May 19, 1999 / 9:24 PM EDT / CBS/AP

Nothing is going right for David Wells.

Juan Encarnacion hit a tiebreaking three-run home run in the seventh inning, one of three Detroit homers off the struggling Wells, as the Tigers beat the Toronto Blue Jays 7-3 Wednesday night.

Bobby Higginson added a two-run shot and Dean Palmer hit a solo homer off Wells (4-4), who has lost his last three starts for Toronto.

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"When it rains it pours," Wells said. "I make a good pitch and they make contact and end up getting a base hit, and then I make a bad pitch and then I'm three or four runs behind."

Wells gave up six runs and nine hits in seven innings, raising his ERA to 6.00 for Toronto, which has lost nine of its last 12 games. He struck out eight and walked one.

"I just have to work through this, my stuff is not bad, I just have to make pitches when I got guys on," he said.

After the game a frustrated Wells met with Toronto manager Jim Fregosi.

"He told me he feels like he's letting the club down," Fregosi said. "Unfortunately, David is in one of those grooves right now when he misses by an inch and they hit it out."

With the score tied at 3 in the seventh, Wells gave up a single to Bill Haselman and a double to Deivi Cruz. Encarnacion then hit his fourth homer to give Detroit a 6-3 lead.

The teams traded two-run homers in the sixth inning, with Higginson's sixth homer giving the Tigers a 3-1 lead and Tony Fernandez's second tying the game.

Shawn Green's RBI groundout gave Toronto a 1-0 lead in the third, but Palmer's homer in the fourth, his sixth, tied it.

"Wells had great stuff," Palmer said. "He just made a couple of mistakes and we were lucky enough not to miss them."

Brian Moehler (4-3) had his second consecutive quality outing since returning from a 10-game suspension for using sandpaper to doctor the baseball.

Moehler allowed three runs and six hits in six-plus innings. He struck out five and walked three.

Brad Ausmus added an RBI triple for Detroit in the eighth off Tom Davey.

Notes: Tim Johnson, fired in spring traning by the Toronto Blue Jays, has been hired to manage the Mexico City Red Devils in the Triple-A-rated Mexican Baseball League. ... Toronto SS Alex Gonzalez is day-to-day with a sore right shoulder. ... The Tigers loaded the bases with one out in the first but failed to score after Tony Clark hit a soft grounder to third baseman Fernandez, who stepped on the bag and threw to first for the double play.