CLEVELAND (AP) — Jhonny Peralta's flyball sent Detroit's Ryan Rayburn crashing through a bullpen door for an inside-the-park homer, and Jeanmar Gomez won his major league debut as the Cleveland Indians beat the Tigers 7-2 victory Sunday to complete a four-game sweep.
Gomez (1-0), called up from Triple-A Columbus to make a spot start, allowed two unearned runs over seven innings.
The right-hander was staked to a 3-0 lead in the first inning when Peralta legged out his seventh homer of the season.
With runners on first and second and two outs, Peralta hit a 1-1 pitch from Andy Oliver (0-4) toward the Cleveland bullpen. Centerfielder Raburn tried for a leaping catch, but tumbled through the bullpen door. The ball caromed off the wall and by the time left fielder Brennan Boesch could retrieve it, Peralta, one of the slowest players on Cleveland's roster, was chugging around the bases.
Peralta slid in ahead of the relay throw by shortstop Danny Worth with Cleveland's first inside-the-parker since Grady Sizemore did it against Baltimore on April 27, 2007.
Cleveland earned its first four-game home sweep over the Tigers since 1991. Detroit was outscored in the series 21-8, has lost five in a row overall and fell to 16-29 on the road and 16-21 in the AL Central.
Gomez, who pitched a perfect game at Double-A Akron in May 2009, had only a 6-8 record and 5.70 ERA in 18 Triple-A starts this year. Right-hander Justin Masterson was moved back a day in the rotation for Gomez, a Venezuelan who signed with Cleveland at age 17 in 2005. Gomez struck out four and allowed only one walk and five hits.
Oliver (0-4), with several friends and family members watching, gave up five runs over 3 2-3 innings. The left-hander from Vermilion, 40 miles west of Progressive Field, walked five, struck out four and allowed four hits.
Cleveland made it 5-0 in the fourth, getting three walks and two singles in the inning. One run scored on a groundout by Jason Donald and another on a throwing error by third baseman Don Kelly — who snared a bases-loaded line drive by Austin Kearns to end the threat.
An error by Indians first baseman Andy Marte, who had played so well at third base during Cleveland's doubleheader sweep on Saturday, led to two unearned runs in the sixth. Magglio Ordonez had an RBI double and Miguel Cabrera followed with a sacrifice fly to get Detroit to 5-2.
Overall in the series, the Tigers' two sluggers went a combined 5 for 28 with five strikeouts apiece.
Matt LaPorta had an RBI triple in the seventh. Jayson Nix singled home Michael Brantley, who had doubled, to make it 7-2 in the eighth.
NOTES: The Tigers had won seven of eight before their losing streak. ... Indians OF Shin-Soo Choo, out since July 2 with a strained right thumb, will start an injury rehab assignment Monday at Double-A Akron. He'll join SS Asdrubal Cabrera, out since breaking his left forearm on May 18. ... Cleveland INF Anderson Hernandez was designated for assignment to make roster room for Gomez. ... Detroit grounded into two double plays Sunday and six for the series. ... Tigers CF Austin Jackson got the day off. The rookie has hit .388 (19 of 49) with 11 runs and six stolen bases against Cleveland.
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