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Thursday, Aug. 10 1:05pm ET
Higginson, Becker help Tigers tame Orioles | |||||
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GAME LOG
DETROIT (AP) -- Rich Becker kept getting on base, and Detroit's batters kept sending him home. Bobby Higginson had three hits and four RBIs, and knuckleballer Steve Sparks baffled Baltimore for 7 2-3 innings Thursday as the Tigers routed the Orioles 14-3. Becker, batting leadoff, scored four runs and reached base five times. "It helps having Becker out there on base," Higginson said. "He draws walks and puts the ball in play. When he's on base there's going to be a hole out there." Becker hasn't played regularly since Gonzalez returned from an injury. He started in center field Thursday, with Juan Encarnacion given the day off. "Obviously you want to play," Becker said. "The goal here is to play. But I've been around and I understand the game." Manager Phil Garner said Becker will likely get another chance Friday at Oakland, which released him earlier this season before he signed with Detroit. "I know what Becker can do and he does a real good job," Garner said. "That's why we picked him up." Damion Easley hit a two-run homer and Juan Gonzalez was 3-for-5 with two RBIs for the Tigers, who gained a split of the four-game series with only their second win in seven games against the Orioles this season. Higginson was just 4-for-23 in his previous six games before he hit RBI singles in the first and third innings and a two-run double in the fifth. "I just wanted to swing the bat a little better and get back in rhythm," Higginson said. Detroit, averaging 2.8 runs in its previous six games, had a trio of four-run innings. "We had a lot of guys do a lot of things today," Garner said. Four Baltimore pitchers gave up 14 hits and seven walks, and the Orioles also committed three errors. "We didn't give ourselves a chance to win much past the second or third inning," Orioles manager Mike Hargrove said. "The Tigers swung the bats very well today. We didn't throw enough strikes to stay ahead of them and keep them off balance. They capitalized on the mistakes we made, which were many." Sparks (2-2), pressed into the rotation when Hideo Nomo went on the disabled list, won his second straight start, allowing two runs -- on Delino DeShields' two-run homer -- and four hits with four strikeouts and a walk. "He pitched a beautiful game," Garner said. "His knuckleball's been good the last two games." Sparks credited pitching coach Dan Warthen for that. "Dan changed some things with my mechanics and I felt like I had good downward movement on my knuckleball," Sparks said. "Once we got a lead I was able to mix in a few other pitches." Sidney Ponson (6-8) gave up six runs and seven hits in four innings, losing for the fourth time in five decisions. He walked three and struck out four. "I was all over the place one inning walking guys," Ponson said. "A couple of pitches I thought could've been called strikes, then it would've been a different situation with the hitters' approach. But I threw some balls up in the zone and they hit it." Higginson's RBI single gave the Tigers a 1-0 lead in the first, but DeShields' two-run homer put the Orioles ahead in the third. Detroit batted around in a four-run home half featuring RBI singles from Higginson and Jose Macias, and Deivi Cruz's sacrifice fly. Another run scored on shortstop Melvin Mora's throwing error. Gonzalez doubled off the center-field wall for a 6-2 lead in the fourth. Higginson's two-run double highlighted Detroit's four-run fifth off Jason Johnson. Becker had an RBI single and the other run scored on third baseman Ryan Minor's fielding error. Easley hit a two-run homer and Gonzalez a run-scoring single in a four-run seventh off B.J. Ryan. Chris Richard added a sacrifice fly off Todd Jones in the ninth. Game notesThe Tigers' three, four-run outbursts in the third and fifth innings matched their highest total runs in any previous game of the homestand. ... Orioles pitchers have allowed four or more runs in an inning 57 times. ... Mora had errors in each of the past two games but hit .467 (7-for-15) in the series. ... Orioles LF Brady Anderson left after failing to make a diving catch of Easley's double in the seventh. ... Tigers 3B Dean Palmer missed his second straight game to be with his wife, who delivered twin boys Thursday morning in Detroit. ... The crowd of 40,093 was the second-largest at Comerica Park. | ALSO SEE Baseball Scoreboard Baltimore Clubhouse Detroit Clubhouse RECAPS NY Yankees 12 Oakland 6
Detroit 14
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