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Pena powers Arizona past Detroit

Jun 25, 2011 - 3:56 AM Detroit, MI (Sports Network) - Wily Mo Pena's solo home run in the eighth inning lifted the Arizona Diamondbacks to a 7-6 comeback win over the Detroit Tigers in the opener of a three-game interleague set.

Pena finished 2-for-4 with a pair of RBI in the designated hitter spot while Xavier Nady drove in three runs for the Diamondbacks, who have won seven straight on the road and were coming off a three-game sweep of the Royals in Kansas City.

Esmerling Vasquez (1-1) recorded the win after tossing a one-hit seventh for Arizona.

Casper Wells hit a two-run homer and Jhonny Peralta knocked in a pair of runs for Detroit, which suffered its fifth loss in seven games.

Reliever David Purcey (1-1) was charged with the loss after giving up the late home run to Pena.

The Diamondbacks took their first lead of the game with two outs in the eighth when Purcey left a pitch high in the zone and Pena scorched it just under the scoreboard behind the left field seats to make it 7-6.

David Hernandez then pitched a 1-2-3 bottom of the inning for Arizona and closer J.J. Putz worked around a walk for a shutout ninth to get his 21st save of the season.

"We just never gave up," Pena said, who was called up to the club on Tuesday. "We just said 'hey let's keep swinging and you never know.' We came back and won the game and everybody is happy."

The Tigers scored in the first inning with the bases loaded and two down when Peralta belted a ball off the top of the fence in left for a two-run double.

The lead was pushed to 4-0 in the third inning. Wells and Magglio Ordonez ripped back-to-back doubles to score the first run. Later in the inning, Ordonez came home when Victor Martinez's sharp grounder deflected off shortstop Stephen Drew's glove.

The Diamondbacks scored three during the fourth after loading the bases with a Kelly Johnson walk, a Ryan Raburn fielding error on Justin Upton's grounder to second, and a Chris Young single.

Drew hit a sacrifice fly to score Johnson and Nady drilled a grounder up the middle, plating Upton to halve the deficit. Pena then singled in Young to make it a 4-3 game.

Detroit played keep-away in the bottom of the inning with Wells' two-run homer over the left fence to extend the lead to 6-3.

Arizona, though, came right back in the fifth. With the bases jammed and two outs again, Nady hit a two-run single to right to cut it back to a one-run game.

Ryan Perry replaced struggling Detroit starter Phil Coke and threw a ball in the dirt to allow Drew to race home and knot the game at six.

"They gave me a six-run lead and I let it slip away," Coke said. "I feel terrible. That's the best way I can describe this one. I'm disappointed in myself that I let it get away."

Game Notes

Detroit Tigers third baseman Brandon Inge was activated off the 15-day disabled list after a bout with mononucleosis and went 1-for-4 with a strikeout...The Tigers made a host of other roster moves before Friday's game. Infielder Danny Worth and pitcher Adam Wilk were optioned to Toledo, while pitcher Ryan Perry was recalled from the minor league club...Coke allowed six runs -- five earned -- on seven hits over 4 2/3 innings. Diamondbacks starter Zach Duke allowed six runs on seven hits over four frames...The game also marked the return to Detroit for Arizona manager Kirk Gibson and bench coach Alan Trammell, who were former Tiger greats.