CLEVELAND — Even for the woeful Wahoos, this was a bit extreme.
Seemingly in charge against the Tigers on Wednesday night at Progressive Field, the Indians instead found themselves in a more familiar position —  on the losing end of a 14-12 decision in 13 innings.
Despite leading 8-1 after three innings and bringing an 11-7 advantage into the eighth, last-place Cleveland still lost for the sixth time in eight games, with the Tigers scoring twice in the 13th off Juan Rincon to tip the scales in their favor.
The Indians had the bases loaded in the 12th inning with none out, yet still failed to score a run.
“We battled hard,” said Indians manager Eric Wedge. “But we had opportunities late, multiple ones, and we’ve got to push a run across there.”
In an unlikely slugfest between one of the American League’s best offenses (Detroit) and one of its worst in the Indians, the teams combined for 41 hits, which included seven home runs and eight doubles — the Indians providing five of the long balls and five of the doubles. Each club left 14 runners on base.
Cleveland catcher Kelly Shoppach was at the forefront of it all, collecting five hits in six official at-bats, with all of them going for extra-bases — two home runs and three doubles — to equal a major league record.
The last player to amass five extra-base hits in a single game was Shawn Green, who hit four homers and a double for the Dodgers on May 23, 2002. The only other American League player to do it was another Indian, Hall of Famer Lou Boudreau,  on July 14, 1946.
The game lasted five hours and 33 minutes, with the teams combining to employ 14 pitchers, who threw 526 pitches. The Indians, the majors’ top fielding club, committed a season-high four errors; Detroit, two.
Offense was required for Cleveland, which got an uncharacteristically subpar outing from Cy Young candidate Cliff Lee.
Lee entered his 21st start of the season riding a personal three-game winning streak, but equaled a season high by allowing six runs (10 hits) through just five innings, which matched his shortest stint of the year.
It was just the sixth time that Lee has allowed more than two runs in an outing.
Still, Lee left with the lead – 8-6 – and the Indians extended the advantage to four runs in the sixth on homers from Shoppach and Ben Francisco. Francisco, one of six players with three or more hits on the night, matched Shoppach with two homers of his own.
Detroit’s Curtis Granderson equaled Shoppach’s hit output with five singles, reaching base seven times on the night – once on a walk and once courtesy of an error.
Cleveland’s four-run cushion to start the eighth vanished with the arrival of reliever Edward Mujica, who allowed all four runs, including the game-tying ones on a two-run double from Miguel Cabrera that just missed leaving the park. All of the runs off Mujica came with two outs.
The right-hander entered the game riding a 12-inning scoreless streak – a season-high by a Cleveland reliever.
Shoppach succeeded in drawing the ire of veteran reliever Todd Jones when he flipped his bat towards the Tigers’ dugout after hitting his first homer in the sixth, but his second long ball was more dramatic.
After the Tigers forged ahead with a run in the ninth off Masa Kobayashi, Shoppach connected on a one-out homer to the bleachers in left field in the bottom of the inning that knotted things again.
Contact Chris Assenheimer at 329-7136 or cassenheimer@chroniclet.com. 

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