Alex Avila's Grand Slam homer launches Tigers to a 5-1 win over the Nationals at Comerica Park.

Alex Avila hit a tiebreaking grand slam homer in the sixth inning off of Stephen Strasburg and the Tigers take game one of a short two-game home series against the Washington Nationals 5-1 on Tuesday night.
Anibal Sanchez pitched seven strong innings allowing only one run, and five hits on the night. New Tiger pitcher Jose Veras pitched a scoreless eighth inning, and Joaquin Benoit pitched well in the ninth, allowing only one hit. National's star pitcher Stephen Strasburg got knocked around for five runs, six hits and three walks while striking out seven over seven innings of work. Washington started the scoring in the first inning when Ryan Zimmerman singled in Bryce Harper. It was all Tigers after that. Andy Dirks hit a ground rule double scoring Prince Fielder. Alex Avila topped off the scoring in the sixth inning with a grand slam homer to right field to give Detroit the win 5-1. The AL Central- leading Tigers have now won four straight games, and eight out of nine putting them 15 games over .500 on the season. Game two of the series on Tuesday night pits Justin Verlander (10-8, 3.99) against Gio Gonzalez (7-3, 2.97).