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Renteria, Ordonez help Tigers edge Rays

Sep 28, 2008 - 3:59 AM DETROIT (Ticker) -- Edgar Renteria snapped a tie with an RBI double in the sixth inning and Magglio Ordonez had two hits as the Detroit Tigers recorded a 4-3 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays on Saturday.

Trailing, 3-1, in the fifth, the Tigers got a sacrifice fly from Brandon Inge before tying the game when Ordonez drove in Curtis Granderson with a single off Matt Garza.

The Rays clinched the American League East title Friday, and Garza likely will be a part of their playoff rotation along with Scott Kazmir and James Shields.

"It was tough, but part of the job is going out there," said Garza, who yielded three runs and four hits in five innings. "You can't say that you can't pitch because you partied too hard the night before. Besides, it was worth it."

Gary Sheffield worked a leadoff walk in the sixth and promptly stole second. After reliever Jeff Niemann recorded two outs, Renteria delivered his decisive hit.

"The important thing is that we are still playing hard, and you really don't know how hard that is to do when you're playing for nothing," Tigers manager Jim Leyland said. "I'm sure glad that we were able to put more wins on the board."

Niemann (2-2), one of the many promising prospects in Tampa Bay's farm system, surrendered three hits and two walks with five strikeouts in three innings.

"I was able to rest a few guys and I did things differently with the bullpen," Rays manager Joe Maddon said. "Normally, you wouldn't leave Niemann out there with the bases loaded and no one out, but today I was able to give him a chance to get out of it, and he did. That can be a huge moment in the career of a kid like that."

Aquilino Lopez (4-1) tossed 2 2/3 hitless frames in relief of Dontrelle Willis and Fernando Rodney worked a scoreless ninth to notch his 13th save. Willis allowed three runs and four hits in 5 1/3 innings but was unable to notch his first win since September 25, 2007.

"I'm all about winning, and that's what we did," Willis said. "I felt about the same as in my last start, but the results were different. Today, they hit the ball at people and I was able to bounce back after my mistakes.

"I wanted to go deeper into games and not let the guys down, but they said it was time. It was good to throw the ball well. I still need to make more adjustments and get ready for next season."

Miguel Cabrera's 37th homer of the season in the second cut the Tigers' deficit to 2-1, but Ben Zobrist's solo blast - his third in as many days - in the fifth restored the Rays' two-run lead.

Sheffield went 0-for-2 with two walks, leaving him at 499 career home runs. He could have two more chances at reaching 500 this season, depending on whether the Tigers make up a previously postponed game against the Chicago White Sox on Monday.

"I just wanted to take my normal at-bats and look at what they gave me," Sheffield said. "A couple of times, I was tempted to swing extra hard at a pitch outside the zone, but I knew the important thing was to win the game."