Gabe Gross drove in the go-ahead run with an infield single in the ninth and Landon Powell drove in two to lead the Oakland Athletics past the Detroit Tigers, 5-4, on Friday.
Jake Fox and Mark Ellis each chipped in three hits for the A’s, who have won three straight and six of seven.
Knotted at 3-3 going into the ninth, Oakland loaded the bases against right-hander Ryan Perry (1-4) with a double, an intentional walk and a hit batter. The Tigers brought in left-hander Fu-Te Ni to face Gross, who managed to tap it just far enough away from the mound that Ni didn’t have a play.
Powell followed with a sacrifice fly to cap the scoring.
That last run proved to be the difference when Miguel Cabrera lifted a solo homer - his third blast of the night - off Andrew Bailey in the bottom of the ninth.
Cabrera, who drove in all four runs, now has 13 homers on the season for Detroit, which has lost three straight and five of six.
Brad Ziegler (2-2) worked one inning of relief for the win and Bailey notched his 10th save of the season.
Oakland | Detroit | |
Ben Sheets | Player | Dontrelle Willis |
No Decision | W/L | No Decision |
7.0 | IP | 5.1 |
6 | Strikeouts | 5 |
5 | Hits | 9 |
3.86 | ERA | 5.06 |
Oakland | Detroit | |
Mark Ellis | Player | Miguel Cabrera |
3 | Hits | 3 |
0 | RBI | 4 |
0 | HR | 3 |
3 | TB | 12 |
.750 | Avg | .750 |