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Cabrera's walk-off double sends Tigers to comeback win

Jun 29, 2008 - 4:11 AM DETROIT (Ticker) -- For the Detroit Tigers, climbing back to respectability this season has been an arduous chore. Perhaps it was appropriate that the team had to wait just a bit longer than normal and count on a hitter with the lowest batting average on their current roster.

Ryan Raburn hit his first career grand slam and scored the winning run in the bottom of the ninth on Miguel Cabrera's walk-off double Saturday, powering the Tigers to a 7-6 victory over the Colorado Rockies.

After the Rockies overcame a three-run deficit in the top of the ninth off Tigers closer Todd Jones to take a 6-5 lead, Detroit answered in the bottom of the frame with a rally of its own.

Colorado closer Brian Fuentes (1-3) allowed a leadoff single to Placido Polanco before forcing Carlos Guillen to fly out. The lefthander followed with a four-pitch walk to Raburn before Cabrera drove a first-pitch fastball into deep right-center to plate Polanco and Raburn and complete the comeback.

"That's good tonic for Miguel and good tonic for us," Tigers manager Jim Leyland said. "Miguel needed something like that. That's the Miguel we traded for. I think we'll see a lot more than that."

"It's all on me, I put myself in that situation," Fuentes said. "I was trying to get him (Cabrera) out. I didn't want to walk him. I threw him a fastball but I got it up. I just didn't hit my spot."

Raburn was only in the game as an injury replacement for regular right fielder Magglio Ordonez, who left the game in the third inning due to spasms in his right oblique.

Freddy Dolsi (1-2) recorded the final out in the top of the ninth after Jones' meltdown to post the first win of his career.

"It was a three-run lead and there's all kinds of ways to blow saves, and believe me, I've done them all," Jones said. "I was just bad. (I'm) very thankful this is a team game. ... When you do what I do, it's all pass (or) fail. I take full responsibility for it. Heck, I'd boo me tonight."

Detroit (40-40), considered by many as a serious World Series title contender this season, lost its first seven games of the season, and even though it made a push to pull to within one victory of .500 (14-15) on May 1, the Tigers promptly dropped five consecutive contests.

The team has since rebounded, winning four straight and 16 of their last 20 games to reach the .500 mark for the first time this season.

"(It's) just a matter of playing baseball (and) 162 games," Tigers center fielder Curtis Granderson said. "We started off the season bad and now we're playing well."

Saturday's triumph was due in large part to Raburn, who entered batting just .205.

Raburn put Detroit on the scoreboard in the third inning when he squared up a one-out sacrifice bunt just off the third base line. Rockies starter Jeff Francis fielded the ball cleanly but threw wide of first baseman Todd Helton, allowing Polanco to score from second on the play.

One inning later, with two outs and the bases loaded, Raburn fouled off four straight pitches before finally connecting on a changeup from Francis for his third home run of the season to give the Tigers a 5-0 lead.

"As long as he gets in the game, he'll do something great," Granderson said. "He's got great power but a lot of people don't know that."

Willy Taveras gave the Rockies some hope with RBI singles in the fifth and sixth innings to trim the deficit to 5-2.

The game remained scoreless until the Tigers turned to Jones in the ninth, when the Rockies mounted a seemingly improbable comeback off a reliever who had yet to blow a save in 14 opportunities this season.

(To) have a three-run lead, then you look up and you're down one," Leyland said. "That's the life of a closer. He was 14-for-14 and the get booed that bad. That's a tough job."

Matt Holliday began the rally when he pushed across another run in the ninth with a one-out single off the closer.

Even though Jones seemed to settle down after forcing Brad Hawpe to ground out, the righthander allowed the next four Colorado hitters to reach base, including consecutive RBI singles to Ryan Spilborghs and Jeff Baker to knot the game at 5-5.

Chris Iannetta capped off the four-run rally with a double to deep right, giving the Rockies their first lead at 6-5.