Another Late Rally for Tigers

After rallying in the 11th inning to beat the White Sox 2-1 last night, the Tigers scored 2 in the 9th for a 3-2 comeback victory against the same Pale Hose this afternoon. Last night's hero, Timo Perez, got today's rally started with a pinch hit infield single and advanced to second on a throwing error. After one was out, Sean Casey then brought home pinch runner Cameron Maybin with a pinch single to left. With two out, Placido Polanco then singled to left to bring home pinch runner Omar Infante from second with the winning run. It was their second walk off win in less than 18 hours.

The Tigers went ahead 1-0 in the third inning when Brandon Inge hit his first home run since July 21. Inge went 3 for 4 for the day after getting a pinch double in the 11th inning last night. Hopefully, this is a sign that he is breaking out of his summer long slump. The only other Tiger with multiple hits was Polanco who had 2 singles.

Chad Durbin pitched a solid 5 shutout innings on 4 hits and 1 walk. Jason Grilli followed him with 2 perfect frames so they got 7 scoreless innings from unexpected sources. Fernando Rodney blew the lead in the 8th when he allowed 3 hits including a 2 run double by Paul Konerko. Bobby Seay then kept the deficit at 1 run with a 1-2-3 9th including 2 strikeouts.

So, the Tigers took 2 of 3 from the last place White Sox, a team that has owned them most of the year. They did not get many innings from their starters in this series as none made it through 6 innings but they held the White Sox to just 6 runs in 3 games. Kenny Rogers and Durbin both did well and they got a good team effort from the bullpen throughout the series. On the negative side, they scored only 6 runs in 3 games against a pitching staff that had been getting pounded. On the plus side were two clutch late inning rallies and contributions from players, such as Inge, Casey and Pudge Rodriguez, who had not been doing much in recent weeks.

They are now 6 1/2 games behind the Indians pending the outcome of their game with the Angels tonight. In the wild card race, they are tied with the Mariners 3 games behind the Yankees. They open up a three game weekend series at Seattle tomorrow night with Justin Verlander facing Miguel Batista.