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Tigers edge Orioles

Aug 14, 2011 - 3:40 AM Baltimore, MD (Sports Network) - Ryan Raburn capped a five-run sixth inning with a two-run single to send the Detroit Tigers to a 6-5 victory over the Baltimore Orioles in the middle tilt of a three game series.

Miguel Cabrera belted a two-run homer, Alex Avila had an RBI double and Victor Martinez finished with a pair of hits for the Tigers, who have taken the first two games of this series.

Max Scherzer (12-7) gave up five runs -- four earned -- on seven hits. He had a season-high 10 strikeouts and did not issue a walk. Jose Valverde worked a scoreless ninth to notch his 35th save of the year.

Vladimir Guerrero and Blake Davis accounted for all five runs with two-run and three-run home runs, respectively, for the Orioles, losers in 12 of their last 15.

Jeremy Guthrie (5-16) went 5 2/3 innings in defeat, giving up six runs on eight hits while walking two and striking out one.

The Tigers roared in front in the sixth, plating five runs to take the decisive 6-5 lead -- all with two outs in the inning. Magglio Ordonez began the rally with a double to center and Cabrera cracked his 23rd homer to right to make it a 5-3 game. Martinez and Peralta poked back-to-back singles and Avila smacked a ground-rule double to bring the Tigers within a run. Rayburn capped the inning with a two-run single.

"He made a few mistakes and we were able to capitalize on them," Rayburn said of his team's big inning against Guthrie. "A couple of at-bats we were able to get ahead and make him throw pitches over the plate."

The O's threatened in the seventh. Chris Davis singled to right and Blake Davis singled to right two batters later to put runners on first and second with two outs. Scherzer remained composed and fanned J.J Hardy to preserve the lead for his team.

Baltimore struck first in the second inning when Adam Jones led off with a sharp single to left and Guererro smashed a two-run homer over the wall in left-center field for his 10th longball of the season. The inning continued for the Orioles when Matt Wieters singled and Chris Davis grounded into a fielder's choice, but both runners were safe as a result of a throwing error by Rayburn. Following a Josh Bell fly out, Blake Davis made the Tigers pay for their sloppy play by blasting a ball deep to left that appeared to just make it over the wall. The play was reviewed and called a home run, giving Baltimore a comfortable 5-0 lead.

"That was the first big inning we've had in a while," Orioles manager Buck Showalter said. "I really would have liked to see us tack on a few more."

Detroit got on the board in the fourth when Andy Dirks doubled, advanced to third on a groundout by Ordonez and trotted home with the Tigers first run of the game on a sacrifice fly by Cabrera.

"We played hard, we played nine innings," Tigers manager Jim Leyland said. "You have to play nine hard innings. We talked about it on the bench tonight early in the game when we got behind."

Game Notes

Martinez is hitting .322 against the American League East this season...Hardy homered in five of his last six games...Baltimore has been outscored 87-38 in the first inning this season...Prior to Saturday's game, former Orioles' shortstop Mike Bordick, who replaced Cal Ripken Jr. at the position and allowed Ripken to move to third base in 1997, was inducted into the Orioles Hall of Fame...Guthrie extended his scoreless inning streak against the Tigers to 18 before giving up a run in the fourth.