• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers

Tigers outlast Indians in 13 innings

Jul 31, 2008 - 6:32 AM By Todd Krepop PA SportsTIcker Contributing Writer

CLEVELAND (Ticker) -- The way Kelly Shoppach was hitting the ball, Jim Leyland figured his night was finally over.

Placido Polanco drove in the go-ahead run with a groundout in the 13th inning and the Detroit Tigers outlasted the Cleveland Indians, 14-12, on Wednesday night in a game that lasted 5 hours and 33 minutes.

Shoppach had already tied a major league record with five extra base hits and stepped to the plate in the 12th inning with the bases loaded and nobody out. But Casey Fossum (2-0) struck out Shoppach and then induced a double-play groundout to extend the game.

The Tigers then pushed across two runs in the 13th to bring an end to the 5-1/2 hour marathon.

"You think you are done for the evening," Leyland said. "It was a (heck) of a night for him. When a guy has night like that you are real fortunate to win."

Shoppach, who homered and hit three doubles earlier, sent the game into extra innings when he hit a solo home run in the ninth off closer Fernando Rodney to tie the game at 12-12 after Detroit had take in the lead in the top of the inning.

Shoppach became the first player in the majors since Shawn Green of the Los Angeles Dodgers on July 23, 2002, to have five extra-base hits in a game.

"I didn't know anything about the record," Shoppach said. "I can't take personal gain in a game like this."

Shoppach couldn't complete storybook ending, though, as he swung at Fossum's high fastball. Fossum then got a 6-4-3 double play to end the threat and give Detroit new life.

"I was trying to strike everybody out, at least the first guy," Fossum said. "I was in the same situation against these guys earlier in the season (July 9 in Detroit). They had the bases loaded and nobody out and I got out of it. That gave me confidence that I could do it again."

Detroit's Carlos Guillen started the winning rally with a one-out single off Juan Rincon (2-3) and Curtis Granderson followed with a single as Guillen went to third. Polanco followed with a grounder to third, but Andy Marte had no play at home and took the out at first.

The Tigers tacked on another run when first baseman Andy Gonzalez threw wildly past Rincon, allowing Granderson to score.

"This will always go down as one of the most memorable games because of what happened," Leyland said. "It was a heck of a freak win."

The game looked bleak for the Tigers, as Cleveland stormed out to an 8-1 lead with Cy Young contender Cliff Lee on the mound.

Detroit kept chipping away, though, and closed the gap to 8-7 in the sixth, but Shoppach's two-run homer in the bottom of the inning increased the Indians' lead back to 11-7.

The Tigers battled back and Miguel Cabrera hit a two-run double off of the left-field wall to cap Detroit's four-run eighth and tie the game at 11-11.

Lee labored through five innings, yielding six runs on 10 hits. He gave up costly home runs to Cabrera and Brandon Inge that allowed Detroit to get back in the game.

"I can't tell you how proud I am of these guys," Leyland said. "We were going against the best pitcher in the league and we came back. There was never any quit."

Ben Francisco hit two home runs for his first career multi-homer game and Grady Sizemore also hit a three-run blast for the Indians, who lost for the sixth time in 10 games despite setting a season high with 19 hits.

"We battled hard," Indians manager Eric Wedge said. "But we wasted multiple opportunities late in the game."