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Santiago, Cabrera power Tigers to rare road sweep of Yankees

May 2, 2008 - 3:50 AM By Zachary Braziller PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

BRONX, New York (Ticker) -- The Detroit Tigers found the perfect antidote for their road woes - the struggling and injury-riddled New York Yankees.

Ramon Santiago hit a go-ahead, two-run triple in the sixth inning and Miguel Cabrera homered as the Tigers completed a rare three-game road sweep of the New York Yankees with an 8-4 victory Thursday.

Cabrera drove in three runs and Magglio Ordonez had two RBI for Detroit, which had not swept the Yankees in New York since 1966.

"That's not going to happen very often obviously," Detroit manager Jim Leyland said. "You feel very fortunate if you win two of three here. You feel OK if you win one of three."

New York is dealing with a bevy of injuries. Third baseman Alex Rodriguez is on the 15-day disabled list with a strained right quadriceps muscle. Jorge Posada (shoulder) and Phil Hughes (fractured rib) also are on the DL.

"You're always going to have injuries," Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter said. "Other guys have to step up. Other guys are capable of doing it."

The sweep was particularly stunning considering the Tigers had been just 5-12 on the road this season.

After stumbling to a 6-13 start, the Tigers have won eight of 10.

"We've been getting timely hitting, our starters are going deeper into games and our bullpen has been great," Leyland said. "Everything that has been going wrong at first is now getting better."

With the game tied at 4-4 in the sixth, Carlos Guillen singled and Jacque Jones doubled. Santiago then plated both with a triple off Jonathan Albaladejo (0-1) for a 6-4 lead.

Cabrera blasted a towering two-run shot in the seventh - his sixth of the season - to put Detroit ahead, 8-4.

Nate Robertson (1-3) allowed four runs and seven hits in 5 2/3 innings. The lefthander struck out three and walked two in picking up his first career win in New York.

"He stayed after it," Leyland said. "He didn't give in. He gave us a chance to win the game, which we did."

Four Detroit relievers combined to keep New York at bay the rest of the way.

"We started slow this season, so to come in here and win three games is big," Cabrera said. "We feel confident right now. We're playing defense, we're hitting, and our pitching is doing a great job."

Bobby Abreu hit a three-run homer in the first and Shelley Duncan tied the game at 4-4 with an RBI single in the fifth for the Yankees, who have lost six of eight.

Yankees starter Ian Kennedy allowed four runs and five hits in 4 2/3 innings. Kennedy, whose ERA rose to 8.37, failed to last five innings for the fourth time in his last six starts.

"It's frustrating, knowing I felt good," Kennedy said. "But the outcome wasn't what I wanted."