DETROIT – Max Scherzer struck out 12 in eight dominant innings, rookie Quintin Berry had a career-high five hits and the Detroit Tigers beat the staggering Colorado Rockies 5-0 on Sunday.
Prince Fielder and Miguel Cabrera each had an RBI double. Gerald Laird added three hits and Berry finished 5 for 5 to help the Tigers win their third straight series, all against National League teams.
Jeremy Guthrie lasted only three innings for the Rockies, who have lost 10 of 11.
Colorado was missing slugger Carlos Gonzalez, scratched moments before the first pitch with a sore right hamstring. He was replaced in the lineup by Dexter Fowler, who struck out in his first three at-bats, all with runners on base.
The game was delayed by rain for 53 minutes in the top of the fourth, but Scherzer stayed on the mound to finish that inning and four more. He has struck out at least nine batters six times this season, most in the majors.
Scherzer (6-4) fanned every Rockies starter other than Marco Scutaro in his third double-digit strikeout performance of the season. He gave up seven hits and didn't walk a batter while throwing 122 pitches.
Brayan Villarreal finished up with one strikeout in a hitless ninth.
Guthrie, the first of five Colorado pitchers, allowed four runs — three earned — on eight hits and two walks.
The Tigers took a 1-0 lead on Laird's RBI double in the second, then added two more runs in the third.
Berry singled after Guthrie misplayed a foul pop for an error, then took second on a balk. Miguel Cabrera walked and Fielder followed with an RBI double. Brennan Boesch flied out but Jhonny Peralta was intentionally walked and Ramon Santiago made it 4-0 with a two-run single.
Cabrera capped the scoring with an RBI double in the sixth.
NOTES: Guthrie held the Tigers scoreless in his previous two starts against them, both in 2010. He went 2-0, allowing seven hits in 15 innings. ... Scherzer is the first Tigers starter with six nine-strikeout games in Detroit's first 66 games since Hal Newhouser in 1946. ... The Tigers announced before the game that rookie Jacob Turner will start Thursday's series finale against the Cardinals.
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