Miguel Cabrera's 498th homer helps Tigers top Red Sox 4-2

DETROIT - Miguel Cabrera hit his 498th home run and the Detroit Tigers beat the Boston Red Sox 4-2 on Tuesday night.

Cabrera added a single, giving him 2,944 career hits and moving him one ahead of Frank Robinson for 36th place all-time.

The Red Sox have lost a season-high five straight games, including an 0-4 start to a 10-game road trip.

Tigers starter Wily Peralta allowed two runs on six hits in 4 2/3 innings, and five relievers combined to shut out the Red Sox in the final 4 1/3 innings.

Gregory Soto pitched the ninth for his 12th save in 13 attempts.

Garrett Richards (6-7) took the loss, allowing three runs on five hits and two walks in four-plus innings.

Boston took a 1-0 lead in the first, thanks to two defensive mistakes by the Tigers. With two out, Xander Bogaerts hit a grounder to third that Jeimer Candelario juggled before throwing widely to first. J.D. Martinez followed with a single to right, and Bogaerts scored easily when Robbie Grossman couldn't pick the ball up cleanly.

Hunter Renfroe led off the second with his 17th homer of the year, and Cabrera did the same thing in the bottom of the inning.

The Tigers loaded the bases with no outs in the fourth. Richards struck out Eric Haase, but Harold Castro hit a sacrifice fly to make it 2-2.

Boston had two on with two out in the fifth when Kyle Funkhouser (5-1) replaced Peralta and struck out Alex Verdugo.

Akil Baddoo gave the Tigers a 3-2 lead with an RBI double in the fifth, ending Richards' night.

Grossman's RBI single put the Tigers ahead 4-2 in the seventh.

TRAINER'S ROOM

The Red Sox placed closer Matt Barnes on the COVID-19 injured list after he began to show virus-like symptoms on Tuesday. Barnes is isolating at the team hotel while awaiting tests results. Boston filled his roster spot with utilityman Marwin Gonzalez, who had been out since July 13 with a right hamstring strain.

ACCELERATING TOWARD HISTORY

Cabrera is hitting .406 with four homers and 10 RBIs in his last 10 games. He needs 56 hits in Detroit's final 53 games to reach 3,000 this season.