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Tigers use wild seventh to end five-game skid

Aug 7, 2007 - 3:56 AM DETROIT (Ticker) -- One inning may be all the Detroit Tigers needed to wake them from their second-half slumber.

Eight consecutive batters reached base in the bottom of the seventh as the Tigers took advantage of some shaky defense to post a 6-4 victory over the Tampa Bay Devil Rays on Monday.

The defending American League champions, losers of a season-high five straight entering the game, were able to avoid their longest losing streak since an eight-game drought in September 2005. Even with the win, Detroit is just 10-15 since the All-Star break.

"This was a good win for us," Tigers manager Jim Leyland said. "It was a comeback win. We got timely hitting and solid pitching. When you do those things, you will win."

Trailing 4-2 with one out in the seventh, the Tigers began to mount their comeback off Devil Ray reliever Gary Glover (5-4). Following a groundout by Placido Polanco to open the frame, Sean Casey began of stretch of six consecutive hits for the Tigers when he belted a solo home run to right.

"I think my home run gave us a jump start," Casey said. "It seemed to give the rest of the guys energy. It even got the crowd back into the game."

Magglio Ordonez followed with his third single of the game and scored on Carlos Guillen's seventh triple of the season to tie the game at 4-4. Ryan Raburn added a run-scoring single to push across Guillen.

Mike Rabelo and Omar Infante each singled to load the bases for Brandon Inge, who delivered a high fly ball to left center. A miscommunication between left fielder Carl Crawford and center fielder B.J. Upton allowed the ball to fall in between the two to score Raburn, giving the Tigers a 6-4 advantage.

"This is kind of baffling right now," Glover said. "I feel like I made some decent pitches and they just kept hitting them. I got the first guy and then I gave up, what? Five straight hits? I don't know what happened. I just have to try to erase it from my short-term memory."

Zach Miner (2-3) retired the only batter he faced in the seventh to get the win. Fernando Rodney pitched a perfect eighth and was matched by closer Todd Jones in the ninth, setting down Tampa Bay in order to notch his 29th save in 34 chances.

"It was very important that Rodney pitched well for us tonight," Jones said. "He just closes down momentum. Our bullpen is much better when he's out there."

Guillen recorded the 1,000th hit of his career in the first inning, an RBI single that scored the Tigers' first run of the contest.

"If you stay healthy, you can do those things," Guillen said. "I'm very happy and hope that there are more to come."

The four-run seventh ruined a solid outing by Tampa Bay starter Edwin Jackson, who yielded two runs and seven hits to the league's second-highest scoring offense and was in line for his second win against the Tigers this season before the bullpen let him down.

"It wasn't the best game I've thrown, but I just kept attacking," Jackson said. I got into a lot of trouble, but I didn't let myself think about each mistake. I just went after the next hitter. I think the double play was probably the turning point. That was huge."

"Jackson pitched a great game, and I managed to dismantle the whole thing in a span of about two minutes," Glover said. "I feel terrible for the whole team, and especially for him."

Upton homered and maintained his American League-leading batting average on the road to .390 (48-for-123) for Tampa Bay, which fell to 31-8 in contests in which it led after six innings.