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Dye powers White Sox past Tigers

Jul 26, 2008 - 3:46 AM DETROIT (Ticker) -- In the fight for American League Central Division supremacy, the Chicago White Sox showed they weren't quite ready to succumb to the red-hot Detroit Tigers.

Jermaine Dye belted a two-run, go-ahead homer in the top of the ninth inning Friday, sending the Chicago White Sox to a dramatic 6-5 comeback victory over the Detroit Tigers.

After the White Sox rallied from a three-run deficit in the top of the seventh to knot the game at 4-4, Carlos Guillen hit his ninth homer of the season in the bottom of the frame to help the Tigers retake the lead.

However, Chicago rallied in the ninth after Tigers closer Todd Jones (4-1) retired the first two batters he faced. Carlos Quentin's grounder just eluded Detroit second baseman Placido Polanco, setting the stage for Dye, who pounded a 2-0 fastball into the stands to give the White Sox their first lead.

"I think the key was, with two outs (and two strikes), Carlos gets a base hit and gives Jermaine a chance," White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen said.

D.J. Carrasco (1-0) recorded the final two outs of the eighth before turning the ninth inning over to closer Bobby Jenks, who set down the Tigers down in order to post his 20th save in 23 chances.

"It was a tough outing," Jones said. "We had a chance to start the series with a win but we just couldn't do it. I felt good and was able to make good pitches. I got behind 2-0 and the guy took me deep. I'm always in a pass/fail situation. Today, I failed."

The White Sox (58-43), who have been in sole possession of first place in the AL Central since May 17, had seen their once-comfortable 6 1/2-game division lead cut to just a half-game earlier this week.

But with the losses suffered by Minnesota (55-47) and Detroit (52-50) on Friday, they have stretched their cushion back to 3 1/2 games while grabbing their first win in 39 games in which they trailed after eight innings.

"It was a big game for them (the Tigers) getting back into the race and we stole one," Dye said. "That's what's so good about this team and this clubhouse. We never give up. It says a lot about how we go about our business every day."

The Tigers, who had won four straight, entered this contest winning 28 of the their last 41 games, the most victories in the majors during that stretch. In that time, the Tigers compiled a .300 batting average with 57 home runs and 229 runs scored.

Early on, Detroit continued its hot-hitting ways.

With the score tied at 1-1 in the third, Polanco reached on a one-out single and moved to second on a wild pitch. Magglio Ordonez and Miguel Cabrera followed with consecutive run-scoring hits to give Detroit a two-run advantage before Gary Sheffield pushed across another run with a RBI fielder's choice groundout, giving the Tigers a 4-1 advantage.

"(In) the beginning of the game, I felt we had (taken) the day off," Guillen said. "We couldn't get anything going. But they never let down. ... From the fifth, sixth innings on, the hitters fought like (they) know how to."

The White Sox retaliated with a three-run frame of their own in the seventh to briefly knot the game at 4-4. The tying run scored when Tigers catcher Ivan Rodriguez was charged with a passed ball and compounded his mistake by trying to throwing out Orlando Cabrera at third.

The Tigers recaptured the lead in the bottom of the inning when Guillen sent a 2-0 fastball from reliever Nick Masset just over the fence in right-center for his ninth homer.

But it was not meant to be for Detroit, which fell to 46-8 in games in which it scores at least five runs.