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Miller, Thames help Tigers crush Red Sox

Jul 7, 2007 - 4:15 AM DETROIT (Ticker) -- Andrew Miller received a lot of support from Marcus Thames in his sixth career major league start.

Miller pitched seven strong innings and Thames had a career-high five RBI as the Detroit Tigers cruised to their third straight victory, a 9-2 triumph over the Boston Red Sox in the opener of a three-game series Friday.

Miller (4-2) yielded just one run and three hits with four walks and six strikeouts.

"I felt pretty comfortable tonight," Miller said. "I'm not there yet, but it gets easier every time out."

After giving up an RBI single to Coco Crisp in the third inning, the 22-year-old Miller held the Red Sox hitless.

"The key was that my off-speed stuff was working tonight," Miller said. "You can't just win on one pitch, you have to have more to win at this level."

"Miller looked real good out there today," Tigers manager Jim Leyland said. "He did a great job and is going to get better."

The run support is nothing unusual for Miller, who received 10.2 runs per nine innings over his first five starts.

Thames blasted his first grand slam of the season off Boston starter Julian Tavarez (5-7) in the fifth inning to give Detroit an 8-1 lead.

"He had been throwing me junk," Thames said. "I couldn't believe it when he threw me the fastball up. I got a good swing and it went out."

After Curtis Granderson led off the inning with a solo homer, Placido Polanco singled and Gary Sheffield was hit by a pitch. The Red Sox chose to intentionally walk Sean Casey, loading the bases and setting the stage for Thames to crush Tavarez's 1-2 offering over the left field wall.

It was Thames' ninth homer of the season and first grand slam since September 8, 2005.

"I just play hard and try to help the ballclub every time I get to play," Thames said.

The Tigers took the lead in the fourth inning as Magglio Ordonez smacked an RBI single to center and later scored on Thames' sacrifice fly. Brandon Inge then plated Carlos Guillen with a double off the wall, but the Red Sox were able to hold the score to 3-1 by throwing out Mike Rabelo at home.

Granderson and Polanco each had three hits for Detroit, which has outscored its opponents, 27-9, over its current three-game winning streak.

"It was a decent game for me," Granderson said. "The hits were good, but there were still a couple things I should have done."

Tavarez was chased after 4 2/3 innings, surrendering a season-high eight runs and 10 hits with a walk and four strikeouts. The 34-year-old righthander has now lost three consecutive starts.