| SEASON | CAREER |
| W13 | 14 |
| L10 | 10 |
| G28 | 33 |
| IP174.2 | 200.0 |
| BB33 | 37 |
| SO130 | 145 |
| SEASON | CAREER |
| W8 | 47 |
| L12 | 50 |
| G28 | 142 |
| IP174.2 | 848.0 |
| BB44 | 316 |
| SO145 | 711 |
As the Oakland Athletics try to maintain their status as one of the AL wild-card leaders, the Detroit Tigers hope they've begun a winning stretch that will propel them to a second straight trip to the postseason.
The Tigers look to complete a series sweep by handing the A's a fourth consecutive loss Wednesday at Comerica Park.
Justin Verlander threw six scoreless innings and Miguel Cabrera homered for the second straight game Wednesday in Detroit's 6-2 win over Oakland. The Tigers (79-69) have outscored the A's 18-4 to win the first two games of the set after falling 5-4 at Central-leading Chicago on Monday.
Winners in six of eight, the Tigers are two games behind the White Sox, who fell 3-0 at Kansas City on Wednesday. They'll be trying to possibly trim that deficit more if they can sweep the A's (84-64) at home for the first time since 2009.
"We played a couple good games against one of the hottest teams in all of baseball," Tigers manager Jim Leyland said. "That's pretty good."If Detroit is to remain a serious postseason contender, it needs Cabrera to stay hot.
A threat to become the first Triple Crown winner since Boston's Carl Yastrzemski in 1967, the veteran slugger is batting .432 with six homers and 14 RBIs in his last nine games. Cabrera is 13 for 25 (.520) with three home runs and 14 RBIs in six games versus Oakland this season.
"(The Triple Crown is) something that is a dream," said Cabrera, who leads the AL with a .333 batting average, 130 RBIs and is second with 41 homers. "But right now, I got to focus on trying to help us make the playoffs."Scheduled Detroit starter Anibal Sanchez (3-5, 4.19 ERA) is 2-2 with a 1.89 ERA in his last five starts. The right-hander took a no-hitter in the seventh inning Saturday when he eventually gave up two runs, three hits and struck out seven in 6 2-3 innings of a 5-3 win at Cleveland.
"I was trying to be aggressive, not be afraid and all my pitches were working," Sanchez said.
This will be his first appearance against the A's, who hold one of the two wild-card spots with Baltimore. Oakland, however, has dropped three in a row after winning eight of nine.
Stephen Drew and rookie Yoenis Cespedes each had two hits Wednesday for the A's, who have not lost four in a row since a nine-game skid May 22-June 1. Cespedes has batted .417 (10 for 24) with six RBIs in his last eight games after he went 4 for 33 (.121) in his previous eight.
Scheduled Oakland starter Tommy Milone (13-10, 3.81) tries to win a third straight start after he set a franchise rookie record for wins when he allowed an earned run in 6 1-3 innings of a 3-2 victory over Baltimore on Friday.
"That's really impressive," manager Bob Melvin told the Athletics' official website of Milone's record. "Doesn't get lost on us."
In his only previous appearance versus Detroit, the left-hander allowed one earned run, five hits and struck out six in seven innings of an 11-4 home win May 11.
@
AVG
HRRUNSSBSOBBOBPSLGOPSERAQSSOBBSVBSBAAWHIPE
VS.
| HITTERS | AB | AVG | H | HR | RBI | BB | SO | OBP | OPS | SLG |
| Coco Crisp | 3 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .000 | .000 |
| Jonny Gomes | 4 | .250 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .400 | .900 | .500 |
| Tommy Milone | 1 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .000 | .000 |
| Seth Smith | 11 | .455 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 | .455 | 1.273 | .818 |
 Oakland Athletics |
|||
| Date | Player | Status | Injury |
| September 19, 2012 | Brett Anderson | Day-to-Day | Left game - strained right oblique |
| September 05, 2012 | Brandon McCarthy | Day-to-Day | Left game - head injury |
| September 02, 2012 | Brandon Inge | Day-to-Day | Dislocated right shoulder |
| September 02, 2012 | Brandon Inge | 15-Day DL | Strained right shoulder |
| August 18, 2012 | Jordan Norberto | 15-Day DL | Left shoulder tendinitis |
| August 12, 2012 | Brandon Inge | 15-Day DL | Dislocated right shoulder |
 Detroit Tigers |
|||
| Date | Player | Status | Injury |
| September 18, 2012 | Max Scherzer | Day-to-Day | Left game - right shoulder fatigue |
| September 16, 2012 | Austin Jackson | Day-to-Day | Sore left ankle |
| September 11, 2012 | Ryan Raburn | 15-Day DL | Strained right quadriceps |
| August 23, 2012 | Doug Fister | Day-to-Day | Tightness in right groin |
| August 23, 2012 | Miguel Cabrera | Day-to-Day | Left game - Right ankle soreness |
| August 01, 2012 | Ryan Raburn | 15-Day DL | Sprained right thumb |
DETROIT (AP) -- The Oakland Athletics avoided a three-game sweep, yet still came out on the losing end.
Seth Smith homered, doubled and drove in four runs, and the Athletics beat the Detroit Tigers 12-4 in a matchup of AL playoff contenders. But the wild-card co-leaders also learned they would be minus starter Brett Anderson for the remainder of the regular season.
An MRI revealed Anderson sustained a Grade 2 strain of his right oblique muscle on Wednesday night, when the left-hander awkwardly fell off the mound and exited after two-plus innings.
Anderson was 4-2 with a 2.57 ERA after six games while coming off Tommy John surgery. The A's revealed the extent of his latest injury after their victory.
"He's a guy that's got ace-type of stuff. It hurts to lose a starting pitcher," Athletics manager Bob Melvin said. "But we've lost a lot of starters in the last month and a half, three."
Melvin said he doesn't know about Anderson's availability for the postseason.
The team also is without Brandon McCarthy , who was hit in the head by a line drive, and Bartolo Colon , who was suspended for using a performance-enhancing drug.
Both clubs are in second place in their divisions, and Oakland is even with Baltimore for the wild-card spot.
The Tigers are two games behind the Central-leading Chicago White Sox.
Outscored 18-4 in the first two games, Oakland held down Miguel Cabrera to win the finale. Cabrera singled in four at-bats, and tops the AL in batting at .333.
Josh Donaldson hit a go-ahead single in a four-run sixth inning that made it 6-3, then had an RBI double to cap a six-run ninth that included Smith's three-run double.
"We're not the type of team to score a run here, a run there, two runs here. We're more of a big-inning team, more often than not," Smith said.
Pat Neshek (2-1) retired the only batter he faced and got the win.
Anibal Sanchez (3-6), who held Cleveland hitless for 6 2-3 innings in his last start, gave up six runs on six hits and two walks in 5 2-3 innings.
Smith hit his 14th homer, a solo shot in the fifth that made it 2-all. The Tigers retook the lead in the bottom half when Cabrera singled and scored on Prince Fielder 's double.
The A's went ahead for good in the sixth. Brandon Moss hit a tying double with one out and after Chris Carter struck out and Smith was walked intentionally, Donaldson singled.
Phil Coke relieved and George Kottaras hit a liner that center fielder Austin Jackson misjudged, the ball sailing over his head for a two-run triple.
"It kind of knuckled. I was right there. It just took a left turn on me," Jackson said.
Kottaras felt fortunate.
"I knew I hit it good. I saw him coming in. I thought, `Oh no, he's going to catch it,"' Kottaras said. "Then when I saw it go over his glove. I was like `Great!' But then I thought, `I've got to keep running."'
Andy Dirks led off the Detroit sixth with a home run off Jerry Blevins .
Yoenis Cespedes hit a bases-loaded sacrifice fly to start Oakland's scoring in the ninth.
The Tigers threatened in the first against Tommy Milone , loading the bases before Delmon Young grounded into an inning-ending double play.
"We missed a couple opportunities," Tigers manager Jim Leyland said. "Delmon hit a ball right on the button in the first inning, double-play ball, he hit it right on the nose. We had a couple other opportunities. We had some chances."
Detroit broke through in the second to take a 2-0 lead on Gerald Laird 's RBI single and Jackson's sacrifice fly.
Second baseman Omar Infante 's throwing error on an attempted double play gave the A's a run in the third. It was his 10th error in 51 games since being acquired from Miami, along with Sanchez, on July 24.
NOTE: Detroit C Alex Avila is no longer having headaches, according to Leyland. Avila sprained his jaw when he collided with Fielder chasing a foul ball on Sunday. ... Cespedes was the designated hitter because of a bone bruise on the bottom of the outfielder's foot that has lingered for the last few days. ... Oakland OF Coco Crisp missed his second game because of an eye allergy. ... The Athletics travel to New York for a three-game weekend series. Jarrod Parker faces CC Sabathia on Friday night. ... Rick Porcello and the Tigers host Sam Dedundo and Minnesota on Friday night.
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Oakland Athletics
