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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME LOG
DETROIT (AP) -- After two straight ugly losses in Detroit,
Oakland manager Art Howe was ready to take a win any way he could.
He got it when Nelson Cruz's wild pitch scored the tiebreaking
run in the 11th inning and the Athletics beat the Tigers 5-4
Sunday, snapping Detroit's six-game winning streak.
|  | | Jason Isringhausen got the win as the A's ended the Tigers' six-game winning streak and denied them the chance to get to .500. |
"It wasn't the way we had it drawn up, but we got the job
done," Howe said after Oakland ended a seven-game road losing
streak.
The win moved the A's within two games of first-place Seattle in
the AL West. Oakland began the day in a virtual tie with Boston for
the AL wild-card lead.
"Obviously it's big," said Ben Grieve, who was 3-for-5 with
two doubles and an RBI. "Any win now is huge for us, and after the
first two games here we needed something."
Dean Palmer hit a tying three-run homer in the eighth for the
Tigers (60-62), who failed in their bid to reach .500 for the first
time since they were 1-1. Detroit, which has won eight of 11 and 14
of 21, hasn't been .500 this late in a season since 1997.
"I just take this game as one game. We have plenty of time to
get to .500. It's not a pressing concern," Tigers catcher Brad
Ausmus said. "We played pretty well last week and did a good job
of coming back today and getting in the game and tying it up. But
I'm fairly confident this won't be our only chance of getting back
to .500.
"You can be upset we lost, but you can't be upset the way we've
played the last week or so."
Grieve and Mike Stanley hit one-out singles in the 11th before
Matt Stairs walked on a 3-2 pitch by Cruz (4-1).
After Ryan Christenson struck out, Cruz was ahead of Eric Chavez
1-2 before throwing a wild pitch that bounced in front of Ausmus
and then off him as pinch-runner Jeremy Giambi scored.
"It hit me in the chest protector and ricocheted to the
right," Ausmus said. "I'm not going to question my effort. I did
what I'm supposed to do. Unfortunately for us and unfortunately for
Nelson, it got away from me. It's probably a ball I block four out
of five times but didn't today."
Jason Isringhausen (6-4) pitched two innings, working out of a bases-loaded, one-out jam in the 10th.
Jeff Tam got the final out for his third save.
The Tigers trailed 4-1 and had only three hits through seven
innings against A's starter Kevin Appier. But Billy McMillon and
Juan Encarnacion greeted Jim Mecir with singles in the eighth. Two
outs later, Palmer hit his 24th homer on a 1-2 pitch for a 4-4 tie.
"That situation you just hope to keep him in the yard, but
(Mecir) didn't do it," Howe said. "The bullpen did a great job
from that moment on. They shut them down, and that's what counts."
Appier allowed a run with four strikeouts and three walks.
"He kept his pitches down and mixed up his speeds. We had some
balls to hit, but we either hit them right at guys or fouled them
off or something like that," Detroit's Damion Easley said. "When
he gets two strikes on you he's the kind of guy who's not going to
give in. He'll get you to chase him and that's how he gets you
out."
Appier gave up a leadoff single to McMillon in the first, Deivi
Cruz's RBI double in the second and a bunt single from Jose Macias
in the seventh.
"I would've liked to (pitch the eighth) and I told (Howe) I
could've," Appier said. "But I was a little beat up and he made
the decision."
Every Oakland starter had at least one hit against Tigers
starter Willie Blair, who gave up four runs on 11 hits -- including
five doubles -- in 6 1/3 innings.
Detroit took a 1-0 lead in the second when Easley drew a two-out
walk and scored on Deivi Cruz's double down the left-field line.
Back-to-back RBI doubles from Grieve and Stanley gave Oakland a
2-1 lead in the third.
Ramon Hernandez, who was 3-for-5, hit a two-run double that made
it 4-1 in the fourth after singles from Eric Chavez and Frank
Menechino.
Game notes
Deivi Cruz's second-inning double was his fourth in two
games and career-best 36th of the season. ... Jason Giambi was out
of the Oakland lineup for the second straight day because of a
strained left shoulder. ... Sunday's crowd of 39,442 was the third
straight sellout of the series and the 17th of the season at
Comerica Park.
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ALSO SEE
Baseball Scoreboard
Oakland Clubhouse
Detroit Clubhouse
RECAPS
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Oakland 5
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