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Robertson pitches Tigers to sixth straight win

Jun 15, 2008 - 10:42 PM DETROIT (Ticker) -- A shaky performance by the bullpen nearly spoiled a perfect weekend for the Detroit Tigers.

Nate Robertson tossed six scoreless innings and Marcus Thames and Brandon Inge hit back-to-back home runs Sunday as the surging Tigers held on for a 5-4 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers.

"Nate pitched great," Tigers manager Jim Leyland said. "When he uses his pitches, he's a pretty good major-league pitcher."

Robertson (5-6) scattered four hits, helping the Tigers complete a sweep of the interleague series and extend their season-high winning streak to six games. However, they had to sweat out the ninth, when the Dodgers scored four runs.

"It's my first Father's Day (as a parent), and I'm going to remember it really well. I just wish we didn't leave for the west coast tonight."

However, he was nearly remembered for a bullpen collapse as the Dodgers made the Tigers sweat by scoring four runs in the ninth inning.

Bobby Seay gave up a two-run homer to Russell Martin and closer Todd Jones allowed two more runs to score on Jeff Kent's RBI single and a wild pitch. Jones finally stranded the tying run on second for his 12th save.

"We fought all the way, but just came up a little short," Dodgers center fielder Matt Kemp said

The best thing that happened to the Tigers on Sunday was a 47-minute rain delay in the top of the fifth that got Dodgers starter Clayton Kershaw out of the game. Through four innings, Detroit managed just two hits against Kershaw, but the 20-year-old rookie was pulled after the delay.

"That kid has pitching good," Thames said. "He's got some good stuff."

"I had never experienced a rain delay before, so I didn't know how it would affect my arm. I wanted to come back. Mr. Torre (Dodgers manager Joe Torre) told me that I was done.

Torre brought in Chan Ho Park (2-2), and the Tigers teed off, pounding Park for five runs in 1 1/3 innings. Detroit scored three times in the fifth, then extended its lead to 5-0, when Thames and Inge homered to open the sixth.

"Everyone was burying us, and they should have," Leyland added. "Hopefully, we'll do enough to get people excited again."

Kershaw continues to be plagued by bad luck, as he remains winless in 14 starts this season. He was 0-3 in nine starts at Class AA Jacksonville before being recalled by the Dodgers. Since being called up, he is 0-1 in five outings.

"It was my best performance as a Dodger," Kershaw said of Sunday's outing.

Carlos Guillen had three hits for the Tigers, including an RBI double in the fifth.

The 30-year-old Robertson was unaffected by the delay, retiring the Dodgers in order in the fifth and allowing only a single in the sixth.

"We pitched him two innings in the cage during the rain," Leyland said. "That's why we stopped him after six - his pitch count was about 30 higher than it looked on the board."