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Tigers sweep White Sox on Cabrera's homer

Jun 12, 2008 - 8:45 PM DETROIT (Ticker) -- Miguel Cabrera helped the Detroit Tigers put a dent into the deep hole they have dug for themselves.

Cabrera hit a solo home run off Octavio Dotel with one out in the bottom of the ninth inning Thursday, lifting the Detroit Tigers a 2-1 victory over the first-place Chicago White Sox and a sweep of a three-game series between the division rivals.

Expected to contend for the division title, the Tigers (29-37) climbed within eight games of the White Sox (37-29) in the AL Central.

"They're (White Sox) in first place right now," Cabrera said. "We need to win games, that's it."

"These are baby steps, but we took three straight baby steps," Tigers manager Jim Leyland added. "We just have to play well enough to get people talking about us again."

In a game that lasted just 2 hours, 4 minutes, the two starters - Chicago's Mark Buehrle and Detroit's Kenny Rogers - cruised through eight innings, each allowing only one run.

Rogers scattered only four hits in his longest outing of the season before giving way to Todd Jones (2-0), who tossed a scoreless ninth to record the win.

"I'm healthier than most of the guys in here, which probably isn't good," the 43-year-old Rogers said. "Mark is a solid pitcher, and he was great today. I knew I would have to work quick because he pitches so fast."

The White Sox opened the scoring on Dye's sacrifice fly in the second and the lead held up until the sixth, when the Tigers tied it on consecutive singles by Edgar Renteria, Placido Polanco and Carlos Guillen.

"My velocity was excellent," said Buehrle, who allowed seven hits. "I attacked the strike zone and was able to throw all my pitches.

However, Buehrle received little support as the White Sox were held to one run for the second straight day.

"We were one hit away from winning all three games," said Chicago manager Ozzie Guillen, whose team had won six in a row before heading to Detroit. "One pitch (to Cabrera), and it's all over."

Although Rogers was in command, Leyland went with Jones to start the ninth. Carlos Quentin led off with a single, but Paul Konerko grounded into a double play and Dye flied out.

"(Rogers) has been fantastic in his last two or three starts, but today was a no-brainer," Leyland said. "It was a hot day and he was around 100 pitches, and he'd already given us everything we could ask for. If you're at home, you go with your closer in that situation."

Magglio Ordonez opened the bottom of the ninth by flying out to the warning track in left field. Right fielder Dye attempted to make a leaping grab on Cabrera's drive, but the ball landed in the second row of the bleachers.

"Leyland was telling me before the inning, if I see (a good pitch), try to hit a home and try to be a hero,"

Cabrera said. "If I hit it, let's see if we can win the game."

"(Cabrera's) a big, strong kid," Leyland added. "There aren't too many guys who can hit the ball to the opposite field like that."