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Tigers rally for win over Angels

Sep 4, 2008 - 5:43 AM DETROIT (Ticker) -- Placido Polanco drove in three runs, including the go-ahead run in the seventh inning, to lead the Detroit Tigers to a 9-6 victory over the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim on Wednesday night.

Polanco had three hits and Mike Hessman hit a two-run homer in the eighth to help the Tigers to just their third win in 10 games.

Trailing, 6-5, in the seventh, Detroit scored a pair of runs to take the lead for good. Brandon Inge led off with a single and scored on a triple by Curtis Granderson. Polanco followed with a single to left to give the Tigers the lead.

"We kept battling. It kept going back-and-forth," Hessman said. "Every time they got up, we came back and scored."

Mark Teixeira went 3-for-5 with a home run and three RBI for the Angels, whose magic number to clinch the American League West Division remained at seven.

"We had a lot of opportunities," Angels manager Mike Scioscia said. "We got a lot of hits for the game but we couldn't get the hits late in the game to cash in."

Kyle Farnsworth (2-2) picked up the win, yielding three hits in 1 2/3 innings with a pair of strikeouts. Fernando Rodney made things interesting in the ninth, loading the bases with one out, but he got out of trouble unscathed to pick up his eighth save in 12 chances.

"We hung in there again. We stayed in there and Farnsworth did a good job," Detroit manager Jim Leyland said. "We keep battling away offensively."

Angels reliever Jose Arredondo (7-2) took the loss, allowing three hits and two runs in the seventh.

Neither starter was effective or figured in the decision. Detroit's Zach Miner allowed five runs and eight hits in six innings. Jon Garland gave up five runs and seven hits in six innings for the Angels.

"I felt good coming out from warming up. But, I wasn't able to make my pitches. I was just terrible," Garland said. "I put my team in a hole early, they got me four back and I gave them right back. Just a bad game."