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Thames, Ordonez power Tigers past Mariners

Jul 16, 2007 - 1:07 AM SEATTLE (Ticker) -- Tigers were running wild in Seattle on Sunday.

Marcus Thames hit a home run and drove in four runs and Magglio Ordonez homered and drove in three as the Detroit Tigers defeated the Seattle Mariners, 11-7, to gain a spilt in the four-game series.

Detroit stole five bases in the game, their most since July 18, 2001 against the New York Yankees. Gary Sheffield stole home during a three-run sixth inning and became the first Detroit player to accomplish that feat since Matt Walbeck on April 11, 1997 against the Chicago White Sox.

"It was good for us to come out of here with a split against a team that's really playing well," Tigers manager Jim Leyland said. "It was a nice win for us."

Detroit hurler Justin Verlander (11-3), fresh from his first All-Star appearance, overcame a rocky start to notch his sixth victory in seven starts.

The 24-year-old righthander improved to 3-0 career against the Mariners, allowing four runs, eight hits and a walk while striking out six.

In his worst outing since coming off the disabled list June 9, Mariners starter Jeff Weaver (2-7) went five innings and was roughed up for seven runs and 10 hits while walking three and striking out three. The 6-5 righthander also threw a wild pitch and hit a batter.

"(Weaver) gets frustrated," Mariners manager John McLaren said. "When he doesn't do what he is capable of doing, he gets down on himself a bit. He's been throwing the ball real well up until now. It's just one of those games.

"I am very disappointed in the way we didn't protect the catcher today in the running game. We were trying to do some things today and they didn't work."

Trailing 2-1 in the fourth inning, the Tigers rallied for four runs off Weaver, who had been 2-0 since coming off the DL.

Sean Casey walked and stole second to lead off the inning before Weaver hit Mike Rabelo with a pitch. Curtis Granderson doubled in a run and Thames followed with his 11th homer.

Seattle closed to within 5-3, before Detroit blew the game open after loading the bases with no outs in the sixth. Omar Infante scored on a wild pitch and Granderson was plated on a sacrifice fly before Sheffield swiped home when reliever Eric O'Flaherty threw to first on a pickoff attempt.

"I had a good jump, that was the key," said Sheffield, who has 235 stolen bases during his 20-year career. "I thought it was going to be a close play, but I thought I could get there."

Infante made in 9-3 with his first homer of the year in the seventh and Ordonez hit a two-run blast over the center field wall in the eighth to cap Detroit's scoring.

Jose Guillen's two-run homer highlighted a three-run ninth for the Mariners, but it was a case of too little too late.

Seattle's Ichiro Suzuki left the game in the fifth inning after being hit on the right thigh by a pitch by Verlander. The All-Star Game MVP suffered a contusion and is listed as day-to-day.