Marcus Thames belted a pair of two-run home runs as the Detroit Tigers maintained their lead in the American League Central after defeating the Milwaukee Brewers 10-4 in a rain-shortened interleague game. The Brewers led 3-0 after half an inning and 4-3 in the fourth but Thames, Miguel Cabrera and Curtis Granderson went deep to give the Tigers the advantage before rain resulted in a stoppage of just over two hours.
When play resumed, Thames hit his second two-run shot with one out in the bottom of the seventh to give Detroit a 10-4 lead before rain ended the game for good. The result was the second bit of good news for the Tigers manager Jim Leyland, who has been given a two-year contract extension, which sees him committed to the club until 2011. Detroit have a two-game lead over the Minnesota Twins, who beat the Houston Astros 5-2.
The Brewers saw their lead in the National League Central reduced to only half a game by the St Louis Cardinals, who hammered the Kansas City Royals 10-5 as Ryan Ludwick hit his first career grand slam. The Cincinnati Reds are two and a half games behind the Brewers after Brandon Phillips belted a two-run homer in a 4-3 victory over the Chicago White Sox, while the Chicago Cubs are a further half-game back after coming from seven runs down to beat the Cleveland Indians 8-7 with Ryan Theriot singling home the winning run in the 10th inning.
* Reuters
