Tigers go back-to-back in second straight game

BALTIMORE -- As they did in Game 1, the Tigers fell behind the Orioles early during Game 2 of the American League Division Series on Friday. And once again, they evened it up a half-inning later.

But unlike Game 1, the Tigers kept piling on. After Nick Markakis' home run off Justin Verlander in the bottom of the third gave the Orioles a 2-0 lead, the Tigers used five straight hits off Orioles lefty Wei-Yin Chen -- including back-to-back homers for the second day in a row -- to spark a five-run rally in the top of the fourth.

Torii Hunter got things started with a single to center field, and Miguel Cabrera launched a double to deep center to put two men in scoring position. Victor Martinez knocked a 3-1 fastball to left, scoring Hunter and cutting Baltimore's lead in half.J.D. Martinez then ripped a three-run homer to left field. That made Martinez the first player in Tigers history, the first overall since Arizona's Paul Goldschmidt in 2011 and the 16th player in Major League history, to go deep in each of his first two career postseason games.

Nick Castellanos followed up Martinez's blast with a solo shot, giving the Tigers back-to-back homers in consecutives games and putting Detroit ahead, 5-2. With that, the Tigers became the first team to hit back-to-back homers in consecutive playoff games since Carlos Pena and Evan Longoria did so for the Rays in Games 4 and 5 of the 2008 AL Championship Series against the Red Sox.

Chen retired the next two batters before Rajai Davis hit a hard single to left, chasing Chen from the game. Orioles right-hander Kevin Gausman replaced Chen and struck out Ian Kinsler to end the inning.