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Tigers eke out win over Mariners

May 9, 2012 - 6:56 AM Seattle, WA (Sports Network) - Down by two runs with the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth inning, Jesus Montero of the Mariners looped a ball down the right-field line in foul territory.

Detroit's Don Kelly charged hard and secured the catch, but not before taking a hard tumble into the stands.

The tremendous stab preserved a 6-4 Detroit Tigers win over the Seattle Mariners in the second test of a three-game set.

Justin Verlander (3-1) fanned six and allowed three runs on seven hits and two walks in six innings for the Tigers, who snapped a five-game losing skid to Seattle.

"Verlander certainly wasn't at his best, but a little later on in the game he got better. We made it a little tough on ourselves again at the end, but we got out and that's the important thing," Detroit manager Jim Leyland said.

Kelly's catch allowed Jose Valverde to notch his sixth save of the season, Prince Fielder smacked a solo homer and scored two runs.

Kevin Millwood (0-4) gave up five runs on eight hits and five walks in five innings for Seattle.

"It's not an easy game, but it's also not as hard as I'm making it look. The fact of the matter is, if you make good pitches, you get people out, that's pretty much it," Millwood said.

The Tigers struck first with a run in the first inning and added four more in the second.

Austin Jackson doubled to begin the opening frame and scored on Andy Dirks' single to right-center field.

In the second, Brennan Boesch and Gerald Laird led off with back-to-back singles, and both moved to second and third on Jackson's sacrifice bunt. Dirks then doubled to deep right field to bring home Boesch and Laird. After Miguel Cabrera flied out to right field and Prince Fielder walked, Dirks and Fielder crossed the plate on Delmon Young's double into left-center field, making it 5-0 in favor of Detroit.

Seattle, though, plated three in the third to get back into the contest. Three consecutive singles from Dustin Ackley, Brendan Ryan and Ichiro Suzuki. After Jesus Montero grounded out back to Verlander, Kyle Seager slapped a single into right-center field, scoring Ryan and Suzuki to cut the deficit to 5-3.

Fielder crushed a solo shot deep into the seats in right field to make it 6-3 in the seventh, but the Mariners answered with a run in their half of the frame.

Michael Saunders walked to start the inning, moved to second on a wild pitch during Ackley's at-bat and scurried to third on Ackley's groundout. Saunders scored on Ryan's single to center field.

Game Notes

Fielder's homer was his fifth of the season...Seattle was 4-for-15 with runners in scoring position while Detroit was 3-for-8...Verlander threw 68 of his 113 pitches for strikes.