Tigers Make It Four Victories in a Row

Tired of being ridiculed, the Detroit Tigers are doing the only thing that can guarantee an end to their misery: win.

Brandon Inge ended his slump with the first two-homer game of his career, and the Tigers beat the Baltimore Orioles, 9-4, Wednesday for their first road sweep since 2001.

Craig Monroe homered and drove in four runs for the Tigers, who have won four in a row after a 3-25 start. Detroit outscored the Orioles, 22-11, in its first series sweep in Baltimore since September 1993.

“We felt confident, we really did. Did we think sweep? No,” Monroe said. “Our first goal was to go out and win the series. This just put a cherry on top.”

The Tigers hit .309 in the series, raising their batting average from .195 to .207. Detroit has won more games in the last four days than in the first 34 days of the season.

“I don’t know how many more wins it will take for everyone to stop being sarcastic about ‘The Tigers win,’ ” Manager Alan Trammell said. “We’re getting a lot of national publicity, a lot of national press -- and not the way you’d like to have it.”

Inge, who began the game with a .127 batting average, homered in his first two at-bats against Omar Daal to send Detroit to its first three-game sweep on the road since May 1-3, 2001, at Texas.

Daal (2-4) gave up five runs and eight hits in four innings. The left-hander had given up only one home run in 35 2/3 innings before Wednesday.

The Orioles have lost four in a row to fall under .500 (16-17) for the first time since April 26.