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OAKLAND, Calif.(AP)
Kurt Suzuki
was pleased he came through when needed.
Suzuki hit an RBI single with one out in the bottom of the ninth inning to lead the
Oakland Athletics
past the
Detroit Tigers
3-2 on Saturday night.
''I was just praying it was going to drop,'' Suzuki said. ''Once I rounded the bag, I was watching the play and should have
been trying to get to second.''
Adam Kennedy
hit a leadoff single off
Zach Miner
(5-4) and advanced to second on
Rajai Davis
' sacrifice.
Suzuki hit a low liner into left field and
Ryan Raburn
went for the diving catch. He trapped the ball and came up throwing, but it was offline. It was Suzuki's sixth career game-winning
hit.
''That hit kind of takes the monkey off the back,'' Suzuki said. ''I've had chances and haven't been coming through, so it's
a nice feeling when you get that big hit.''
Andrew Bailey
(6-3) pitched the ninth for the victory.
Carlos Guillen
and
Miguel Cabrera
drove in runs for the Tigers, who had won six of their previous eight.
''We get them in a jam early and only score one run,'' Tigers' manager Jim Leyland said. ''But we don't blow it open from
the 3 or 4 spot. We didn't get it done. We're not doing a very good job of hitting a double with the bases loaded.''
Daric Barton
and
Cliff Pennington
also drove in runs for the A's, who ended a three-game slide.
Tigers starter
Armando Galarraga
went 6 1-3 innings, allowing two runs and seven hits. He walked two and struck out three.
''I made a couple of mistakes in the second, walking those two guys,'' Galarraga said. ''But I was making my pitches. I didn't
think I pitched that bad. I just have to attack the hitter and not worry about someone warming up or how many innings I have
to pitch.''
Galarraga retired 14 of his final 17 hitters after giving up both runs in the second inning.
A's starter
Trevor Cahill
allowed two runs and five hits over seven innings. He walked three and struck out four and is winless in his past six starts.
''I don't worry about (my record) too much, it's all good,'' Cahill said. ''My goal is to go out and pitch as many innings
as I can. The bullpen's been doing a great job but they're probably also getting tired, so my job is to help them too.''
Curtis Granderson
, who snapped an 0 for 13 streak with a pinch-hit single Friday night, opened the game with a double and scored on Guillen's
infield groundout to give Detroit a 1-0 lead.
The A's took a 2-1 lead in the second when Barton hit a sacrifice fly and Pennington singled home a run.
Cabrera singled home the tying run in the sixth.
The A's loaded the bases with one out in the eighth, but
Ryan Perry
got Barton on an infield fly and Pennington grounded to first.
Notes: Tigers 2B
Placido Polanco
went 2 for 4 and is hitting .379 in 41 career games against the A's. ... Cabrera fouled off seven consecutive pitches before
striking out in the eighth. ... A's No. 3 hitters are batting a combined .218 (104 for 478), which is the lowest mark in the
major leagues.
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