Tigers regroup to knock off D-Rays

8/8/2007

DETROIT Nate Robertson s team won, and that was all the Tigers pitcher cared about.

Detroit s bullpen blew a four-run lead after Robertson departed in the eighth inning, and Ryan Raburn scored the go-ahead run in the bottom half to help the Tigers beat the Tampa Bay Devil Rays 9-6 last night.

It is literally a crying shame that Nate Robertson didn t win that game, Detroit manager Jim Leyland said. He was absolutely outstanding he pitched as well as you can pitch.

Robertson was charged with three runs and nine hits in a season-best 72/3 innings. The Tigers led 6-2 when he departed to a standing ovation.

Jason Grilli came in with a runner on first and allowed consecutive singles to load the bases for Jonny Gomes, who hit his second career grand slam to tie it.

Robertson was one of the first players to console Grilli, who pitched to four batters without getting an out.

No one feels worse than Jason, he said. He s pitched some great games for us, and he ll do it again. We won the game, and that s all that matters.

Raburn led off the bottom of the eighth with a double, and Dan Wheeler (0-1) hit Craig Monroe with the next pitch. Both runners advanced on Brandon Inge s sacrifice, and Curtis Granderson hit a grounder to second baseman Brendan Harris, who threw late to home.

My job is to shut down that inning, and I just couldn t execute my pitches, Wheeler said. The ball felt good coming out of my hand, but I couldn t make it go where I wanted.

Placido Polanco singled in Monroe, and Sean Casey s RBI double made it 9-6.

Nate deserved this game, but at least we won it as a team, Casey said. We could have folded after that grand slam, but we came right back and got after them.

Magglio Ordonez homered and drove in a pair of runs for the Tigers, who have won two straight following a season-high five-game skid. Todd Jones pitched the ninth for his 30th save in 35 tries.

We haven t been playing well, and at this level, that will get you beat, Leyland said. I don t care who you are playing.

Carl Crawford had four hits, and Dioner Navarro hit his fourth homer for Tampa Bay, which has lost eight straight road games and 19 of 21 away from home. Jason Hammel remained winless in 13 career starts, giving up five runs and 10 hits with a walk in four innings.

I made good pitches that they hit, and I made bad pitches that they hit, Hammel said. That s a good swinging ballclub.

The Tigers scored in four of the first five innings to build a 6-1 lead, but a combination of bad weather and their struggling bullpen hurt them late in the game.

Tampa Bay added a fluky run in the seventh. With one out, Granderson lost Gomes routine fly ball against a swirling gray sky, and the ball fell behind him for a triple. Robertson got Josh Wilson to pop out, but Navarro lined an RBI single to make it 6-2.

That was like a roller-coaster, Gomes said. My homer took us up, and some bloop hits off Wheeler took us right back down.

After Wilson got the fourth straight hit off Grilli, Tim Byrdak (1-0) came into the game and retired Navarro to end the inning. As he left, Grilli was booed by the same fans that had wildly cheered Robertson.