Indians 6, Tigers 2: Trevor Bauer tossed six strong innings after being recalled from the minors earlier in the day to lift Cleveland to its second straight win over visiting Detroit.

Bauer (1-1), who was brought up from Triple-A Columbus to make his second big-league start of the year, allowed two runs on seven hits while striking out five. David Murphy homered and Mike Aviles had a two-run double as part of a 12-hit attack for the Indians, who will aim for their first home sweep of the Tigers in nearly two years on Wednesday.

Justin Verlander (5-3) lasted six innings while giving up five runs for the second straight start, falling to 9-11 with a 5.36 ERA in his career at Progressive Field. Torii Hunter and Alex Avila each hit a solo homer for Detroit, which had won 11 straight on the road before dropping the first two games of the series.

Hunter's homer in the first gave the Tigers an early lead, but Cleveland replied with Lonnie Chisenhall's RBI single in the bottom half and four more runs in the second. Aviles put the Indians ahead for good with a liner into the left-center field gap and Asdrubal Cabrera capped the rally with a base hit to score Michael Bourn and make it 5-1.

Avila's homer led off the fifth, but Murphy restored the four-run margin with his fourth home run of the year in the seventh. Bryan Shaw and Cody Allen combined on three perfect innings of relief as Cleveland improved to 3-1 against Detroit this season after going 4-15 in the 2013 series.

GAME NOTEBOOK: In addition to recalling Bauer, the Indians activated DH Jason Giambi from the 15-day disabled list and recalled INF Justin Sellers. INF Jesus Aguilar, INF Jose Ramirez and LHP T.J. House were optioned to Columbus. ... Verlander's 4.37 ERA against Cleveland is his highest against an American League opponent. ... Cabrera and Bourn both had two hits and an RBI and 1B Nick Swisher was 2-for-4 with a run scored for the Indians.