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Rodriguez helps Tigers rally past Twins

Apr 15, 2008 - 3:56 AM DETROIT (Ticker) -- Ivan Rodriguez helped the Detroit Tigers end their offensive woes Monday, rallying from a pair of five-run deficits to record an 11-9 victory over the Minnesota Twins.

Rodriguez blasted a solo home run in the seventh inning and added a game-tying two-run triple in the eighth. He then scored the winning run on Jacque Jones' sacrifice fly in the eighth.

The Tigers' four-run rally in the sixth frame ended a 24-inning scoreless streak, which dated to the eighth inning of Friday's 5-2 win over the Chicago White Sox.

"A win like this means a lot for us," Rodriguez said. "Just got to keep playing. We have a good lineup. We can do that, we can hit."

"It was a great comeback for us, obviously," Detroit manager Jim Leyland added. "A real nice win for us. Finally broke loose, we were hitting the ball hard. Nobody was hitting and then a couple of guys start hitting and it gets contagious."

Carlos Guillen's two-run double chased Twins rookie starter Nick Blackburn and highlighted the rally that cut the deficit to 5-4. Minnesota, however, answered with four runs in the seventh to extend the advantage to 9-4.

"Good teams can score runs. ... Today, we scored runs," Guillen said. "It feels pretty good. That's what everybody expects from this team. We've got a pretty good lineup."

Rodriguez started the comeback in the bottom half of the frame when he blasted Matt Guerrier's offering for his first homer of the season. Twins outfielder Denard Span had a chance to catch the ball but it bounced off his glove and over the right field wall.

"I had it in the palm of my glove and when I hit the wall it came out of my glove and over the wall," Span said.

The Tigers, who had lost 10 of their first 12 games this season, then completed the rally with a six-run eighth inning.

Gary Sheffield and Magglio Ordonez connected on back-to-back doubles to start the frame and Miguel Cabrera reached on Minnesota shortstop Adam Everett's throwing error.

Guillen's RBI single chased Guerrier, who was replaced by Pat Neshek (0-1). After Edgar Renteria grounded into a fielder's choice, Rodriguez belted a triple to deep right, plating Cabrera and Renteria and tying the game at 9-9.

"That was a big hit off a pitcher that he's had some trouble with," Leyland said of Rodriguez's triple. "That guy (Neshek) is an excellent, excellent relief pitcher. We just got him tonight."

After Jones' sacrifice fly plated Rodriguez, rookie Clete Thomas tripled and was driven in by Placido Polanco's base hit that gave Detroit an 11-9 lead.

"It was a wild night," Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said. "It doesn't happen often that our bullpen pitches like it did tonight. You saw tonight what the Tigers can do when you can't make pitches."

Minnesota's ineffective bullpen effort cost Blackburn his first career victory. The 26-year-old righthander allowed four runs and eight hits with no walks and no strikeouts over 5 2/3 innings.

Francis Beltran (1-0) received the win after pitching a scoreless eighth and Todd Jones pitched around a pair of hits in the ninth for his second save of the season.

Tigers starter Jeremy Bonderman allowed seven runs - four earned - and eight hits with two walks and five strikeouts over 6 1/3 innings.