• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers

Tigers top White Sox, avoid sweep

Jul 27, 2008 - 10:55 PM DETROIT (Ticker) -- Zach Miner helped the Detroit Tigers avoid a devastating sweep by finally beating the Chicago White Sox.

Miner pitched six innings to record his first career win against the White Sox as the Tigers salvaged the finale of their three-game series with a 6-4 victory Sunday.

Curtis Granderson and Marcus Thames homered while Ivan Rodriguez went 4-for-4 for Detroit (53-51), which climbed within 6 1/2 games of the first-place White Sox (59-44) after dropping the first two contests of this weekend set at Comerica Park.

"It's still July, but obviously only dropping one (game in the standings) to them as opposed to three (is good)," Miner said. "If we (lost) today, they get up three (more) games on us.

"Just the mental side of getting swept isn't good. We were in all three of these games, we could have won all three of them."

After getting off to an awful 2-10 this season, the Tigers battled to a high-water mark of three games over .500 by entering this series with a four-game winning streak.

However, the White Sox, who were swept in a three-game series here last month, distanced themselves from the Tigers in the American League Central Division by posting a pair of one-run victories in the first two games this weekend.

"It wouldn't have been the kiss of death if we lost," Tigers manager Jim Leyland said. "We'd have been 8 1/2 back, whatever it is. That's not a good situation to be in, we're still not in a good situation. There's plenty of baseball left and we're still involved - we're seriously involved.

"Are we in as good a shape as the White Sox and Twins? Absolutely not. If you're picking somebody right now, would you pick the White Sox? Absolutely yes. But there's a lot of baseball to play."

The Tigers received a huge lift Sunday from Miner (5-3), who entered with an 0-5 record and a 7.08 ERA in 11 career games against the White Sox. The righthander allowed two runs and six hits, did not walk a batter and struck out five.

"I thought my control was good, my command and everything was good," Miner said. "Obviously, I improved on some things from last time and still have some things I need to work on for next time."

It was the second win in six days for Miner, who was inserted in Detroit's starting rotation earlier this week to replace struggling rookie Eddie Bonine. The St. Louis native logged six innings Tuesday in an 11-0 victory over Kansas City.

"I thought (Miner's effort) was similar to the other one," Leyland said. "(Miner) had the sinker, breaking ball, changeup. He pitched very, very well. He stayed within himself most of the time, didn't try to do too much."

Joel Zumaya worked 1 1/3 innings before leaving with a triceps injury, and Fernando Rodney recorded the final five outs to close out the contest.

The Tigers took the lead for good in the third inning when Granderson led off with his 11th homer of the season, snapping a 1-1 tie.

"(Javier) Vazquez is a very good pitcher, great stuff," Granderson said. "Somehow, some way, I was able to get one out of the ballpark."

Four batters later, Miguel Cabrera made it 4-1 with a two-run single off White Sox starter Vazquez (7-9).

Chicago halved the deficit in the fourth on Jermaine Dye's solo homer, but the Tigers added two runs in the sixth courtesy of Thames' leadoff homer and Edgar Renteria's RBI double.

"It's definitely big just to save face with the White Sox, how well they've been playing, as you saw in the first two games," Granderson said. "We're still in a situation to have every game be meaningful from this point on."

Vazquez allowed six runs and a season-high 11 hits in seven innings to lose his fourth consecutive decision.

Jim Thome had a two-run single in the eighth for the White Sox, who own a 2 1/2-game lead over the second-place Minnesota Twins in the AL Central.

"We try to win series, and that is just what we did," White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen said. "I would take two of three all season long. I'm very proud of this team."