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Tigers win, but postseason hopes are crushed

Sep 27, 2007 - 6:14 AM DETROIT (Ticker) -- The Detroit Tigers didn't let a little rain stop them from beating up on the Minnesota Twins, but 1,200 miles away their postseason hopes were dying.

The Detroit Tigers pounded out nine hits in five turns at bat, earning a 9-4 victory over the Minnesota Twins before the game was called after six innings due to torrential rains on Wednesday.

The rain at Comerica Park served as a metaphor for Detroit's season, as the New York Yankees (91-67) earned a 12-4 victory over the Tampa Bay Devil Rays to knock the defending American League champions out of postseason contention.

"We won and that's the important thing," Tigers manager Jim Leyland said. "We're 15 games over and that's not bad. Now we go to Chicago and try to win the rest.

"It was a good year for us."

The Tigers (87-72) fell behind, 4-0, in the first inning, but jumped on Twins ace Johan Santana in the second frame, cutting the deficit to 4-3 on a bases-loaded walk and Mike Rabelo's two-run double.

"You don't want to finish this way," Santana said. "But you can't control Mother Nature. I felt pretty good, but I made a couple mistakes and then the rain changed everything.

"Hopefully, this season will teach all of us a lot. We need to learn from this experience and be more consistent as players. We will start over in 2008."

The first rain delay of the night came in the third inning and totaled one hour, 18 minutes.

The wait was too long for Santana, who yielded to rookie righthander Nick Blackburn after the delay. The three-inning stint snapped the two-time Cy Young Award winner's string of 123 straight starts of pitching five innings or more.

"It (the streak) had to end sooner or later," Santana said. "But this isn't the way you would want. You just can't control the weather."

Detroit wasted little time jumping on Blackburn (0-1), pounding the 25-year-old for six runs in the fourth.

Mike Hessman led off the frame with a solo blast - his fourth of the season. Rabelo and Placido Polanco followed with back-to-back singles before Ryan Raburn gave the Tigers a 6-4 lead with a two-run triple.

"I was going to pinch-hit for Hessman," Leyland said. "Shows you what I know. I had a gut feeling and kept him in there and he a couple of big hits for us." Gary Sheffield added an RBI single and came around to score on a throwing error before Hessman completed the scoring with an RBI single to right.

"I had a great time this year," Sheffield said. "This was a great bunch of guys to be around. When healthy, this is the best team in baseball." Tim Byrdak (3-0) got the win in relief of Detroit starter Jair Jurrjens, who allowed four runs in three frames.

"I was just over throwing in the first," Jurrjens said. "I got my composure back and settled down before the rain came."

The game was called after a 30-minute rain delay following the top of the fifth inning.

The Tigers looked like a lock for the playoffs through the first 3 1/2 months of the season, but a 14-27 stretch from July 24-September 4 proved to be too big a hole to overcome.

"We're not happy about not making the playoffs," Tigers third baseman Brandon Inge said. "We played hard all season, we didn't leave a thing on the field."