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Thames leads Tigers past Brewers in rain, 10-4

Jun 20, 2009 - 5:19 AM DETROIT(AP) -- Marcus Thames was worth the wait. So were both replays.

He hit a pair of two-run homers and the Detroit Tigers rallied to beat the Milwaukee Brewers 10-4 Friday night in a rain-shortened game that ended with one out in the bottom of the seventh.

The game was also halted by rain for 2 hours, 3 minutes in the fourth after Detroit took the lead, and featured two replay reversals. One gave the Tigers a homer, the other took it away and made it a double - but the Tigers got run in anyway.

"It was a wild game, but a good win," said Tigers pitcher Zach Miner, who won in relief.

Miguel Cabrera and Curtis Granderson also homered for the Tigers. Prince Fielder hit a three-run homer for Milwaukee.

"It was an interesting ... an interesting night," said Brewers' manager Ken Macha.

Miner (4-1) pitched 2 1-3 scoreless innings in relief of Armando Galarraga, who gave up four runs, three earned, on eight hits in four innings.

Braden Looper (5-4) allowed seven runs on eight hits in 3 2-3 innings.

"I left some pitches up in the zone and they made me pay for them," he said. "'... Basically, I stunk."

The Tigers took a 7-4 lead in the fourth, despite having a replay home run call go against them.

With two out and a man on first, Dusty Ryan lined a pitch down the left-field line that bounced back onto the field. It was originally called a home run, but after Milwaukee manager Ken Macha argued, the umpires looked at the replay and ruled it a run-scoring double that only tied the game at 4.

Adam Everett singled to center to score Ryan and Granderson sent Looper's 1-0 pitch into the stands in right center field for his 17th homer.

The rain delay came with the game only four outs shy of an official game. The Tigers waited it out nervously.

"We were all looking at the radar to see if there was a hole (in the bad weather system)," said Granderson.

Miner replaced Galarraga when play began again with a definite mission.

"Just trying to keep us in the lead and get quick outs," he said. "I figured it eventually was going to start raining again and, eventually, it did."

Everett made it 8-4 with a sacrifice fly in the sixth and Thames hit his second two-run homer - his third in two games - in the seventh.

The game was delayed again by rain and then called official after a 39-minute wait.

Milwaukee jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first on Fielder's three-run homer.

Detroit made it 3-2 in the bottom half of the inning on Thames' two-out, two-run homer.

Thanks to the night's first replay, Cabrera tied the game at 3 in the third. Cabrera's drive just over the left-field fence was originally ruled to have bounced off the top of the fence. But Cabrera, Tigers' manager Jim Leyland and third-base coach Gene Lamont all argued that the ball went over the fence and bounced back off the roof of the bullpen dugout in left field.

The umpires then looked at it on instant replay and it was ruled a home run, Cabrera's 13th.

"You could see it from the dugout that it went over," Thames said. "And the other one was tough, because you can't tell. The umpire made good calls."

The Brewers regained a one-run lead in the fourth on Craig Counsell's sacrifice fly.

NOTES: Detroit gave Leyland a two-year extension through the 2011 season. ... Milwaukee CF Mike Cameron had his suspension for making contact with umpire Marvin Hudson after a called third strike in Atlanta on June 6 reduced from two games to one after baseball officials heard his appeal on Friday. He will sit out Saturday's game. ... The Tigers recalled Ryan, a catcher, from Triple-A Toledo. ... Former Tiger pitcher Mark Fidrych's widow, Ann Fidrych, and their daughter, Jessica, threw out the first pitch before the game to Leyland. Fidrych died in April.