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Suzuki leads A's to 3-2 victory

Aug 23, 2009 - 4:31 AM OAKLAND, Calif.(AP) -- Kurt Suzuki was pleased he came through when needed.

Suzuki hit an RBI single with one out in the bottom of the ninth inning to lead the Oakland Athletics past the Detroit Tigers 3-2 on Saturday night.

"I was just praying it was going to drop," Suzuki said. "Once I rounded the bag, I was watching the play and should have been trying to get to second."

Adam Kennedy hit a leadoff single off Zach Miner (5-4) and advanced to second on Rajai Davis' sacrifice.

Suzuki hit a low liner into left field and Ryan Raburn went for the diving catch. He trapped the ball and came up throwing, but it was offline. It was Suzuki's sixth career game-winning hit.

"That hit kind of takes the monkey off the back," Suzuki said. "I've had chances and haven't been coming through, so it's a nice feeling when you get that big hit."

Andrew Bailey (6-3) pitched the ninth for the victory.

Carlos Guillen and Miguel Cabrera drove in runs for the Tigers, who had won six of their previous eight.

"We get them in a jam early and only score one run," Tigers' manager Jim Leyland said. "But we don't blow it open from the 3 or 4 spot. We didn't get it done. We're not doing a very good job of hitting a double with the bases loaded."

Daric Barton and Cliff Pennington also drove in runs for the A's, who ended a three-game slide.

Tigers starter Armando Galarraga went 6 1-3 innings, allowing two runs and seven hits. He walked two and struck out three.

"I made a couple of mistakes in the second, walking those two guys," Galarraga said. "But I was making my pitches. I didn't think I pitched that bad. I just have to attack the hitter and not worry about someone warming up or how many innings I have to pitch."

Galarraga retired 14 of his final 17 hitters after giving up both runs in the second inning.

A's starter Trevor Cahill allowed two runs and five hits over seven innings. He walked three and struck out four and is winless in his past six starts.

"I don't worry about (my record) too much, it's all good," Cahill said. "My goal is to go out and pitch as many innings as I can. The bullpen's been doing a great job but they're probably also getting tired, so my job is to help them too."

Curtis Granderson, who snapped an 0 for 13 streak with a pinch-hit single Friday night, opened the game with a double and scored on Guillen's infield groundout to give Detroit a 1-0 lead.

The A's took a 2-1 lead in the second when Barton hit a sacrifice fly and Pennington singled home a run.

Cabrera singled home the tying run in the sixth.

The A's loaded the bases with one out in the eighth, but Ryan Perry got Barton on an infield fly and Pennington grounded to first.

Notes: Tigers 2B Placido Polanco went 2 for 4 and is hitting .379 in 41 career games against the A's. ... Cabrera fouled off seven consecutive pitches before striking out in the eighth. ... A's No. 3 hitters are batting a combined .218 (104 for 478), which is the lowest mark in the major leagues.