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DETROIT(AP) The
Detroit Tigers
didn't have much trouble with the
Oakland Athletics
on Friday night. It was the weather that almost cost them a win.
The Tigers had to wait out two lengthy rain delays before they were able to complete a 14-1 rout.
''We were fortunate to get that game in and get a victory,'' Tigers manager Jim Leyland said. ''I thought a couple times that
we were going to get rained out.''
Detroit got grand slams from
Ryan Raburn
and
Brandon Inge
- the first time the Tigers hit two in a game since
Jim Northrup
did it by himself on June 24, 1968.
The start of the game was delayed for 61 minutes, and play was halted again for 73 minutes with Detroit leading 9-1 at the
end of the fourth inning - three outs from a rain-shortened victory.
''The umpires did a great job,'' Leyland said. ''I've been on both sides of this - one team wants it to keep raining and wipe
everything out and the other team wants to keep playing. Luckily, things worked out for us this time.''
Raburn entered the game hitting .095 and already had his grand slam and five RBIs when the game was stopped for the second
time.
''For a while there, I thought I was going to lose all of that,'' he said. ''The way I've been struggling, I needed this.''
Edwin Jackson
(3-2), who entered the game with the lowest run support in the American League, took full advantage of Detroit's big night.
He allowed one run and six hits in seven innings - three after the long delay - without walking a batter.
''He was still throwing 95 (mph) in his last inning - he would have pitched the eighth if we needed him,'' Leyland said. ''The
impressive thing was that he didn't go back out there to pitch the fifth inning, get the win and come out. He went out there
to finish the game.''
The Athletics struggled badly in the wet conditions, committing four infield errors in the first three innings and making
several other mistakes in the field.
''I'm not happy about the way we fielded, and the team isn't happy either,'' Oakland manager
Bob Geren
said. ''The weather isn't an excuse - they had to play in the same conditions that we did.''
Brett Anderson
(0-4) took the loss, allowing nine runs - three earned - six hits and two walks in 3 1-3 innings.
''My arm felt pretty good, but it was a battle all the way,'' he said. ''I wanted to minimize the damage, but I couldn't do
it.''
The Tigers scored five times in the first. Errors by
Jason Giambi
and
Bobby Crosby
put runners on the corners with two outs, and
Magglio Ordonez
hit an RBI single off shortstop
Orlando Cabrera
's glove.
After Anderson hit Inge with a pitch to load the bases, Raburn hit his second career grand slam into the bullpen in left.
The Tigers made it 6-0 in the third when Cabrera misplayed Raburn's grounder, and a seventh run scored when
Adam Kennedy
dropped the ball while trying to turn an inning-ending double play.
Kennedy's RBI single made it 7-1 in the fourth, but Detroit added two in the bottom of the inning before the second delay.
After the game resumed, both teams seemed content to finish before another band of showers arrived. The fifth inning took
just 8 minutes, but Inge's grand slam gave the Tigers a 13-1 lead in the sixth, and his RBI single in the eighth provided
the final run.
Oakland had two hits after the game resumed.
''We just didn't play very well,'' Geren said. ''We have to come back tomorrow and play our game.''
Notes: Recording artist Hammer, a former batboy and front-office worker for the Athletics, was scheduled to throw out the
first pitch, but had to leave because of the rain delay. ... All four of Oakland's starting infielders committed an error
in the first three innings. ... Crosby left the game in the third with an upset stomach. ...
Ryan Howard
and
Raul Ibanez
were the last teammates to hit grand slams in the same game, doing it in Philadelphia's 13-11 win over Washington on April
27.
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