Guillen's RBI single in 10th wins it for Tigers over White Sox

Posted July 24, 2009 11:00 pm

By Lindsey Wilhite Daily Herald Staff

It took the White Sox four weeks to erase a six-game deficit and forge a first-place tie with Detroit in the AL Central.

The Sox have needed just two days in Detroit to give back half of those hard-earned games.

Bobby Jenks lost a 1-run lead with two outs in the ninth - though his performance in this blown save wasn't nearly as egregious as the one Tuesday against Tampa Bay - and Carlos Guillen's RBI single in the 10th lifted the Tigers to a 4-3 win before a sellout of 41,378 at Comerica Park.

"Tonight, everything was sharp," Jenks said, "but I got beat on bloopers and a ball that was fair for maybe two seconds."

It led to the sixth 1-run verdict in the last eight games between these division rivals - five of which have gone the Tigers' way.

D.J. Carrasco (3-1) gave up 3 consecutive singles to start the 10th as Detroit (52-44) moved into position for a series sweep.

Jenks, making his first appearance since Tuesday's boo-fest that irked Sox manager Ozzie Guillen, looked like his normal self as he tried to secure an excellent performance by starter Gavin Floyd.

"I'm not even mad about this one," Jenks said. "The way things had gone in the last week, we had worked on stuff mechanically, and we got the little kinks worked out."

Except for the little part about actually saving the game.

Called in with two outs in the eighth and the tying run on first - just the second time all season Guillen summoned Jenks in the eighth with a save on the line - the Sox closer whiffed Carlos Guillen to preserve the Sox' 3-2 lead.

Jenks struck out Ryan Raburn to start the ninth, but Brandon Inge lobbed a single into left-center that Scott Podsednik hesitated to challenge perhaps because of the sun in his eyes or the game's situation.

Tigers manager Jim Leyland sent Adam Everett in to run for Inge while Marcus Thames batted for Gerald Laird.

Jenks appeared to get the best of Thames when he snapped his bat with a low inside fastball, but the slugger managed to bloop a single into right that moved Everett to third.

Jenks induced a popup from Ramon Santiago, then fired two fastballs on the inside corner to get ahead of Curtis Granderson.

But when Jenks went inside with hard stuff a third consecutive time, Granderson ripped it just over first base to drive in Everett with a double that sent the game into extras.

"You really couldn't see because of the shadows, so we were just doing the best we could," said Detroit's Clete Thomas, who scored the winning run. "I don't know how Curtis saw the pitch he hit, much less did anything with it."

The Sox offense, meanwhile, didn't do much with a 10-hit, 6-walk afternoon. They hit into 3 double plays and lost Podsednik stealing in the ninth.

A.J. Pierzynski led the way with 4 hits, which included a solo homer in the second inning. Gordon Beckham's RBI double keyed the 2-run fifth that gave the Sox a 3-2 edge.

Lindsey Wilhite's game tracker Tigers 4, White Sox 3 Curvaceous Floyd: Sox starter Gavin Floyd posted 7 strikeouts and allowed just 1 earned run in 62/3 innings. He earned 5 of his whiffs with sharp-breaking curves and didn't allow anyone past first base from the second through the sixth innings. See Gavin learn: In the first inning, Detroit cleanup man Miguel Cabrera lined a high Floyd fastball into right for an RBI single. The next time Cabrera batted? Six of Floyd's 7 pitches were curves, including the one that caught him looking. Bullpen woes: Though he looked sharper on Saturday, Bobby Jenks allowed his seventh earned run in his last 62/3 innings. D.J. Carrasco, who didn't retire anyone in the 10th to take the loss, has given up 9 earned runs in his last 12 innings.