The Tigers stunned the White Sox again, to win another game against them in an epic rally. Carlos Guillen won it for them in the 10th inning with an RBI single. He was 3-5 on the game with his 3rd homer of the season and 2 RBIs. It was Guillen's first start since September 3rd. With the rosters now expanded Detroit has 5 guys who can play second base, now that Wil Rhymes and Danny Worth have been called up. Ramon Santiago has been hitting well lately and has gotten most of the starts, with Ryan Raburn mixed in.
But the big rally came in the 9th. Detroit was down 5-2. What do they do? Summon some pinch hitters. Ryan Raburn pinch hit for Omar Santos, who was catching to give Alex Avila a rare day off. Raburn promptly hit his 14th homer run of the season. Magglio Ordonez came on to pinch hit and drew a walk. Alex Avila then came on to pinch hit for Brandon Inge. He's got more power and was now needed to catch the 10th. Avila delivered a pinch-hit 2-run home run, his 19th of the season, to tie the game. The homer was off the same reliever that Ryan Raburn and Miguel Cabrera stunned with homers to complete the rally from 8-1 down a week and a half ago or so. Just like that the game was tied at 5 and the winning streak was alive.
Phil Coke ended up getting the win. He induced an inning inning double play with runners on the corners and 1 out in the bottom of the 9th. Coke is now 3-9 on the season. Jose Valverde struck out the side in the bottom of the 10th to earn his 44th save.
Brad Penny gave up 5 runs, 1 earned, in 6 innings pitched. As is normal for him, he gave up 1 big inning but then settled down as he was on the ropes. His error on a bunt led to 4 unearned runs in the 2nd inning.
Miguel Cabrera and Victor Martinez were both 2-4 with a double. Delmon Young also had a double.
The 12 game winning streak is now Detroit's longest winning streak in 77 years. They had the second of the two 14 game winning streaks in franchise history in 1934. This is the 3rd longest winning streak in franchise history. They won 12 straight games in 1927.
All 12 wins in the streak have come against the White Sox (6), Cleveland (3), and Minnesota (3). This is the second longest streak that comes entirely within a division since divisional play began in 1969. With the win Detroit became the 4th team in history, and first since the 1987 Milwaukee Brewers, to extend a winning streak to 12 or longer with a 3-run on larger rally in the 9th inning.
By my count, if Cleveland loses to Texas tonight Detroit's Magic Number will be 1. They'll have a chance to clinch the division while in Oakland.
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