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Carroll walk-off single leads Indians over Tigers

Sep 20, 2008 - 4:42 AM By Todd Krepop PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

CLEVELAND (Ticker) -- The Cleveland Indians would not go away without a fight. Literally.

Jamey Carroll's RBI single in the bottom of the ninth inning capped a wild night at Progressive Field as the Cleveland Indians rallied to edge the Detroit Tigers, 6-5, on Friday.

The ninth-inning dramatics were hardly the start of it, as the teams' benches cleared in the seventh inning in a massive brawl after Detroit slugger Gary Sheffield charged Cleveland starter Fausto Carmona from first base after exchanging words and glances. At that point, the Tigers were in control. But the Indians used it as a rallying cry for the rest of the game.

"Any time you run onto the field, you get a rush of adrenaline," Carroll said. "You get a little fired up. We got loose really quick."

Shin-Soo Choo erased a 5-2 deficit in the eighth, belting a three-run homer into the right field stands for his second blast of the night.

"I don't think we need to be sparked," Cleveland manager Eric Wedge said. "Our guys have been playing their (butts) off for a long time now and that's the way they do it."

An inning later, Kelly Shoppach was hit by a pitch to lead off and pinch runner Josh Barfield advanced to third on Ryan Garko's single. Carroll followed with a base hit to deep right field off Gary Glover that plated the winning run.

The Tigers employed three different relievers in the ninth, but none could get the job done. Rookie righthander Freddy Dolsi (1-5) recorded just one out and was responsible for the winning run.

Cleveland lefthander Rafael Perez (4-3) combined with Rafael Betancourt to pitch a perfect ninth, striking out the only batter he faced.

Grady Sizemore hit a two-out double off Detroit starter Armando Galarraga in the eighth, and pinch hitter Ben Francisco followed by drawing a walk. Choo greeted reliever Casey Fossum by blasting a 1-0 pitch into the right-field seats.

"I'm more happy about winning games," Choo said, "Not the fight."

It was the second homer of the night for Choo, who opened the scoring with a solo blast in the first. He has collected 12 RBI over his last eight games.

"Choo had a big game," Wedge said. "He's really been hitting the ball well."

The Tigers wasted a two-homer performance from All-Star Miguel Cabrera, who gave his team the lead on two separate occasions only to see the Indians take it back both times.

He erased a 1-0 deficit with a two-run shot way into the seats in left field in the fourth. Cabrera's second homer of the night in the seventh snapped a 2-2 tie and gave Detroit a 4-2 advantage.

"(Cabrera) had a good night against a tough pitcher," said Lloyd McClendon, who was acting manager for Jim Leyland, who was sitting out a suspension. "It just shows the type of hitter he is capable of (being)."

Two batters after the slugger blasted Carmona's 2-1 offering 424 feet to center field, frustration on both sides boiled over.

Sheffield was hit by a pitch and trotted to first, only to take issue with Carmona tossing a pickoff throw to first.

The two had words and Sheffield charged the mound. Carmona, who also hit Sheffield with a pitch on April 17, met him halfway and applied a headlock before the two were swallowed up by a mass of players, who got into a few minor scuffles of their own.

"I try to play the game the right way," Sheffield said. "Just because you're upset someone hit a home run, don't take it out on me. I don't care who you are."

By the time order was restored 15 minutes later, Carmona, Sheffield, Indians catcher Victor Martinez and Tigers second baseman Placido Polanco were ejected.

Sizemore went 2-for-4 - including his team-leading 33rd homer of the season - for the Indians.