Armando Galarraga has been close to perfect against the Indians this season. Such was not the case Monday night.
UPDATED: 11:24 p.m.
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- On June 2, Armando Galarraga retired 26 straight Indians before a blown call stopped him from reaching the pitcher's version of Nirvana -- the perfect game. He settled for a one-hit shutout.
On Aug. 20, he retired 14 straight Indians and combined with two other relievers on a three-hit shutout victory.
Monday night, Galarraga had a no-hitter through four innings, but this time he was pitching on borrowed time. Matt LaPorta, Luke Carlin and Travis Hafner homered in a five-run fifth inning to lead the Indians to a 6-3 victory over Galarraga and the Tigers at Progressive Field.
It was the first time the power-starved Tribe hit three homers in an inning since Aug. 19, 2009 against the Twins at the Metrodome. They've won four straight with five games left in the season.
"We finally broke through against Galarraga," said manager Manny Acta. "It wasn't like the first two times we faced him this year. We were hitting some balls hard right at people. These guys just kept pumping each other up."
LaPorta started the fifth with a 412-foot line drive over the wall in center for his 12th homer. It ended the no-hitter and shutout and gave the Indians their first run in 20 innings against Galarraga.
Carlin, after Luis Valbuena popped out, hit a 2-0 fastball into the right-field seats for his first American League homer to make it 2-2. After Michael Brantley's double and Shin-Soo Choo's two-out walk, Hafner drove a ball high and deep to right to make it 5-2.
Hafner's 12th homer was his first since Sept. 7.
"It seems like he's had our number all year," LaPorta said of Galarraga. "As players we're not looking at it as, 'He's got a no-hitter.' That's why you play nine innings."
The win went to Carlos Carrasco (2-1, 3.26), who didn't miss many bats, but allowed only three runs. He scattered 11 hits in six innings. Carrasco has made six quality starts -- three or fewer runs in six or more innings -- since getting called up on Sept. 1.
Carrasco made his big-league debut against the Tigers last September. The Tigers hit him so hard, and so frequently, it sounded and looked like batting practice. He was better this time.
"I was more comfortable, more confident and more aggressive," said Carrasco, who struck out five and walked one in 94 pitches.
Acta said the second inning probably was the turning point for Carrasco. Jhonny Peralta, facing his old team in Cleveland since he was traded in July, singled to start the inning. Brandon Inge followed with another single, but Carrasco struck out Alex Avila.
Casper Wells sent a bouncer to third for an apparent double play, but Jayson Nix committed his 11th error in his 36th start at third as an Indian to load the bases.
"Errors are part of the game," said Carrasco. "I just concentrated on the next hitter."
Carrasco induced Will Rhymes to hit into a 4-6-3 double play to end the inning.
"I faced him a lot in Columbus this year," said Carrasco. "I threw him my change-up and got him to hit the ball on the ground."
The Tigers took a 1-0 lead in the third on Peralta's two-out single. In the fourth, Detroit made it 2-0, but should have had more. They strung together four straight singles, but only Austin Jackson managed to deliver a run. Carlin helped control the inning by throwing out Avila on an attempted steal of third for the first out.
Relievers Joe Smith, Tony Sipp and Chris Perez finished with a scoreless inning each. Perez retired the Tigers in order in the ninth for his 22nd save. He just rejoined the team Monday after spending the weekend with his wife, Melanie, who gave birth to their first child, Maxwell Alexander, on Friday.
"We're undefeated since he was born," said Perez, pitching his first game since Sept. 18. "Maybe he's a good luck charm."