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Dukes' late heroics carry Devil Rays past Tigers

May 29, 2007 - 4:55 AM ST. PETERSBURG, Florida (Ticker) -- Thanks to rookie Elijah Dukes, the Detroit Tigers continue to slide.

Dukes hit the game-winning single off closer Todd Jones in the bottom of the ninth inning as the Tampa Bay Devils rallied for a 6-5 victory over the Tigers on Monday night.

Detroit has now dropped four straight contests, highlighted by a three-game sweep at the hands of the Cleveland Indians to lose control of the American League Central.

With the Devil Rays trailing, 5-4, in the ninth, Delmon Young and Akinori Iwamura stroked back-to-back singles to open the frame against Jones (1-2) with none out. Josh Wilson hit a sacrifice and fellow pinch hitter Greg Norton was intentionally walked, loading the bases for Dukes' heroics.

"I always thought I was a threat, but I guess not," Dukes said. "I was just trying to put the ball in play and run to first as fast as possible."

Dukes laced a high chopper over the outstretched arm of Detroit third baseman Brandon Inge, scoring Young and Iwanura to complete the come-from-behind victory.

"We are not doing the little things to win games," Detroit manager Jim Leyland said. "We are doing too many little things to lose games. That is exactly what we did."

Dukes was glad to see something positive following published reports in which he was accused of making death threats against his estranged wife and kids. It was Dukes' first home game since the reports and he received a mixed reaction from the home fans.

"I thought it went pretty well overall," Devil Rays manager Joe Maddon said. "I thought I heard a smattering of boos, but not a whole lot. The fact that we worked him back into the lineup was crucial to getting back to the point we did. Obviously he had the big knock. Again, we were just trying to do the right things."

Jones had converted his last eight saves.

"When you don't hit your spots, you're going to get crushed," Jones said. "I didn't hit my spots on Delmon, I didn't hit my spot on Aki and I missed on Elijah and you are going to pay for it. It is the big leagues. I am sure I will miss my spot again and I am sure I will make some pitches."

Tampa Bay's Gary Glover (2-2) pitched two scoreless innings to pick up the win. Brendan Harris recorded an RBI groundout in the seventh and Ty Wigginton also added a run one inning later to bring the Devil Rays within one entering the decisive frame.

Edwin Jackson lasted six innings, allowing three runs and eight hits with a season high-tying nine strikeouts. Tampa Bay improved to 1-9 in games the 23-year-old has started dating to last season.

In the second inning, Jackson was backing up home plate and was hit flush in the left cheek on a throw by left fielder Carl Crawford that sailed over catcher Shawn Riggans' glove.

"It feels like I got punched in the jaw," Jackson said. "It hurt. I could definitely feel it during the game. It feels like I just got out of a boxing ring. We got a win, so it kind of kills some of that pain."

"It was sort of just a freak thing," Riggans said. "But it might have (woken) him up. How could it not have? A ball hits you in the face thrown 250 feet away."

Tigers starter Chad Durbin was impressive before giving way to the bullpen, yielding two runs and three hits in six innings.

"There is no panic," Durbin said. "We know were a good ballclub." Gary Sheffield and Craig Monroe each homered for Detroit, which fell to 18-18 all-time at Tropicana Field.

"We had a couple of opportunities," Leyland said. "We gave them too many extra bases on a couple of plays that add on runs from it. One got away from Mike (Rabelo). We just didn't do enough to win the game. Period. We did too many things to lose the game."

Sheffield's blast of the 465th of his career, tying Hall of Famer Dave Winfield for 29th on the all-time list. It also moved him into a tie with Sam Crawford for 44th in RBI with 1,525.