Orioles 6, Tigers 5
CBSSports.com wire reports
Sep. 22, 2011
DETROIT -- J.J. Hardy and Adam Jones homered and the Baltimore Orioles ruined the Detroit Tigers' homecoming with a 6-5 victory Thursday night.
Back home from a road trip during which they clinched their first division title since 1987, were given a standing ovation when they took the field for the first inning. The crowd of 28,847, though, was the smallest at Comerica Park since June 29.
Zach Britton (11-10) gave up five runs, six hits and four walks in five innings.
Vladimir Guerrero's RBI single scored Hardy in the first, and Hardy's 29th homer made it 2-0 in the third.
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Detroit tied the game with four runs in the fifth, including a long three-run homer by Delmon Young, but Baltimore went back up in the sixth when Reimold beat out a two-out infield single off David Pauley (5-6).
Kevin Gregg pitched the ninth for his 21st save.
With the Tigers juggling their rotation to get things into place for the postseason, Jacob Turner found himself making his third career start. Turner lasted just three-plus innings, allowing five runs and seven hits, including long homers by J.J. Hardy and Adam Jones.
Matt Wieters started the fourth with a single off Turner, and Jones gave the Orioles a 4-0 lead with his 24th homer. A walk and an error ended Turner's night, and Reimold brought home Baltimore's fifth run with a sacrifice fly.
The Tigers got on the board in the bottom of the fourth when Victor Martinez grounded into a double play with runners on the corners.
In the eighth, Miguel Cabrera got to third base, but Pedro Strop struck out Ryan Raburn to end the inning.
Notes
Tigers TV announcers Mario Impemba and Rod Allen broadcast the game from the front row behind home plate. Two extremely wild pitches by Britton nearly hit them -- one on the fly and one after bouncing well in front of the plate. ... The teams continue the four-game series on Friday with Baltimore's Alfredo Simon (4-9) facing Detroit's Rick Porcello (14-9). Porcello is also expected to start Detroit's final game of the regular season and Game 4 of the ALDS, if necessary. ... Tigers manager Jim Leyland confirmed before the game that Justin Verlander, Doug Fister and Max Scherzer would start the first three games of the postseason, and that Verlander would not pitch on short rest in a fourth game, even if Detroit were facing elimination.
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