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DETROIT(AP) The struggling Tigers needed a little help.
Marco Scutaro
provided it Monday night.
Scutaro's second error in two innings allowed
Brandon Inge
to score from second base in the bottom of the 10th inning, and the
Detroit Tigers
rallied to beat the
Toronto Blue Jays
6-5.
''I'm sure the ball was a little wet,'' Detroit manager Jim Leyland said. ''We might've caught a break. We did catch a break.''
It started raining in the ninth inning,
Pinch-hitter
Aubrey Huff
belted a tying three-run homer through the raindrops in the ninth and
Ryan Raburn
also went deep for the American League Central-leading Tigers, who have won two of their last seven.
''I've hit a lot of home runs in my career, and that one felt like that was my first big league home run,'' said Huff, who
was acquired from Baltimore in a waiver deal. ''Every win means so much. I've never been on a team where every game means
so much. It's just a great time.''
Adam Lind
and
Edwin Encarnacion
homered for Toronto.
Brian Wolfe
(1-2) walked Inge and
Curtis Granderson
with one out in the 10th.
Alex Avila
then hit a grounder to first baseman
Lyle Overbay
. Scutaro, the shortstop, couldn't handle his throw to second and Inge was able to slide home with the winning run.
''Nothing to say. Just went off my mitt. That's it,'' Scutaro said.
Bobby Seay
(6-3) retired one batter to get the win.
Scutaro's first gaffe started the tying rally in the ninth.
Granderson reached on Scutaro's error and pinch-hitter Avila followed with a single. Huff, batting for shortstop
Ramon Santiago
, then drove
Jason Frasor
's 2-0 pitch into the right-field stands for his 15th home run.
''It was a fastball count. ... I've had success getting him out with heaters,'' Frasor said. ''I didn't think I got it in
enough. He was looking heater and he got it.''
Toronto wiped out Detroit's 2-0 lead with five in the sixth.
Aaron Hill
singled in a run to make it 2-1. Lind, the next batter, homered over the left-center field fence, a three-run blast. The opposite
field drive was Lind's 29th home run and gave him 100 RBIs.
Encarnacion capped the inning with his homer one out later. The drive to left-center was his second home run.
Raburn gave Detroit a 1-0 lead when he led off the first inning with his 12th homer. He drilled Purcey's 2-1 pitch off the
left-field pole.
Raburn's RBI single gave the Tigers a 2-0 lead in the fifth.
Tigers' starter
Justin Verlander
gave up five runs on 10 hits in seven innings. The AL strikeout leader fanned nine to give him 239.
Toronto starter
David Purcey
allowed two runs on five hits in 5 2-3 innings, walking four and striking out four.
NOTES: Detroit RHP reliever
Fernando Rodney
had his three-game suspension reduced to two games. Rodney was suspended for throwing a ball into the stands in frustration
after he was ineffective, but got the save, after the final out of a 4-3 win at Tampa Bay on Sept. 4. He served the first
game on Monday night and will serve the second during Tuesday night's contest against the
Kansas City Royals
. ... Tigers' manager Jim Leyland said
Magglio Ordonez
will reach the plate appearance incentive in his contract that will give Ordonez an $18 million option for next season. With
five on Monday night, Ordonez is three plate appearances shy of the 1,080 over two years that would activate the option. ...
An unidentified crowd manager was struck in the eye by a ball hit during batting practice before the game. He was standing
near the Detroit bullpen between the left-field fence and stands near the left-field foul post when he was struck. He was
then taken to a hospital via ambulance. Vision in both eyes were tested and determined to be normal. ... A foul ball into
the broadcast booth off Scutaro's bat broke the headset of Tigers' television play-by-play announcer Mario Impemba in the
seventh inning.
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