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Jurrjens, Sheffield lead Tigers past Rangers in second game

Sep 12, 2007 - 4:01 AM DETROIT (Ticker) -- The Detroit Tigers regrouped for Act II.

Gary Sheffield, Magglio Ordonez and Ivan Rodriguez drove in first-inning runs to spark the Tigers to a 4-1 victory over the Texas Rangers for a split of their day-night doubleheader on Tuesday.

In the opener, Texas hit seven homers and scored 10 runs over the opening five innings en route to a 13-6 thrashing. It was the Tigers' turn to create an early edge in the nightcap.

"After a first game like that, you just have to hit the reset button, and typically, we can do that," said Detroit reliever Jason Grilli, who pitched 1 2/3 innings. "We know we are better than that first game. All we can do is keep winning and hope some results go our way."

Despite the win, Detroit (79-67) remained four games behind the New York Yankees (82-62) in the American League wild card chase and 6 1/2 back of the first-place Cleveland Indians (85-60) in the AL Central.

"We're a huge, huge longshot for the division," Tigers manager Jim Leyland said. "But we've got a legitimate shot at the wild card."

Sheffield broke out of his 0-for-25 slump with a run-scoring single to plate Curtis Granderson, who singled and stole second and third. After Sheffield recorded his 21st steal, Ordonez slapped an RBI single to left to make it 2-0.

Rodriguez smoked a run-scoring double an out later to cap the three-run first frame and chase Rangers starter Brandon McCarthy (5-9), who was just activated from the 15-day disabled list.

"My health was good. I felt fine," McCarthy said. "The shoulder didn't hurt, I just wasn't throwing well. I was too quick out there, I wish that I could have made better pitches and given our bullpen a rest. I just couldn't make the pitches that I wanted."

An inning later, All-Star Placido Polanco delivered a two-out, run-scoring single against reliever Jamey Wright as the Tigers built a 4-1 lead.

The early offense was all the support Tigers rookie Jair Jurrjens (2-1) needed. The righthander yielded one run and three hits in five frames in his first start since going on the DL with shoulder soreness on August 26.

"I'm a little sore," Jurrjens said. "But I just wanted to get through five. I kept getting stiff between innings because of the cold wind, but I tried to stay warm. I wasn't feeling any problems on the mound."

Grilli and Fernando Rodney bridged the gap to Detroit closer Todd Jones, who got the final three outs for his 34th save of the season and 297th career save.

Wright gave up one run and four hits in six innings.

"It's always good coming in a game against a great team in a playoff race," Wright said. "It's the type of game that you want to be in. I figured that I could keep us in the game and we could come back. We just couldn't put it together."

Marlon Byrd lofted a sacrifice fly that scored Frank Catalanotto in the first for Texas, which lost for just the third time in its last 15 games.

"It's always disappointing not to get the sweep," Rangers manager Ron Washington said. "But you have to be happy in getting the split against team as good as the Tigers. If you don't find the plate with these guys, you are going to pay for it."