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Davis, Athletics rally past Tigers

Sep 10, 2008 - 3:31 AM DETROIT (Ticker) -- Rajai Davis continues to impress since being inserted as the starting center fielder for the Oakland Athletics two weeks ago. Tuesday was no different.

Davis hit a pair of triples and scored two runs to lead the Oakland Athletics to a 3-2 triumph over the Detroit Tigers.

The 27-year-old Davis, who extended his hitting-streak seven games, is batting .360 (18-50) over the last 12 games, including 11 starts. He laced a one-out triple and scored on Daric Barton's groundout in the sixth inning, then belted an RBI triple in the eighth off Fernando Rodney (0-5) and came around to score the go-ahead run on a sacrifice fly by Emil Brown.

"He's such an exciting player," A's manager Bob Geren said of Davis. "He hits balls in the gap and runs and that gives us a spark."

Oakland's offense struggled over the first seven frames, managing one run against Detroit starter Nate Robertson. The lefthander was filling in for Kenny Rogers, who had his spot skipped in the rotation due to a sore hip. Robertson pitched seven strong innings, allowing one run and five hits, while striking out six without walking a batter.

"I felt good out there," Robertson said. "All the work that I've put in really paid off. My location was good and my slider was working."

The Tigers jumped to a 2-0 lead in the second when the first four batters reached base against Dana Eveland. After Miguel Cabrera walked, Gary Sheffield and Marcus Thames hit consecutive singles to load the bases. Edgar Renteria followed with a two-run single, staking Detroit to the lead.

Eveland settled down and retired the next seven batters to keep the A's in the game. He loaded the bases again in the fifth, but escaped the jam with an inning- ending double play by Magglio Ordonez.

"He kept us in there," Geren said. "He made pitches when he really needed to. Credit to him, he pitched well without his best stuff."

The lefthander pitched six innings, allowing two runs, seven hits and two walks, striking out a pair.

After Davis' first triple and run scored cut the deficit to 2-1, Oakland reached the Detroit bullpen in the eighth.

Bobby Seay issued a leadoff walk to Jeff Baisley, who was replaced by pinch runner Corey Patterson. After Cliff Pennington struck out and Patterson stole second, Davis drove his second triple of the night to deep center field to tie the game. Brown lifted a fly ball to center one batter later to give the A's a 3-2 lead.

"I was thinking (triple) all the way, but it was a play that could have been a double," Davis said. "I was able to get to third with one out."

"It was a leadoff walk in the eight that came back to haunt us," Tigers manager Jim Leyland said. "Then we throw a fastball down the middle of the plate on a 0-2 pitch. You just can't do that an expect to win."

Huston Street loaded the bases in the eighth, but Brad Ziegler escaped the jam and pitched around a pair of singles in the ninth for his seventh save.

"I think it's been probably 15 outings since I've had a 1-2-3 inning," Ziegler said. "Whenever we have the lead at the end of a game, it's just my job to keep it that way."

Joey Devine (5-1) pitched a scoreless seventh in relief to earn the win.