Tigers’ Sudden Surge Stops Padres

The Detroit Tigers have no explanation for their sudden offensive surge.

After struggling to score at hitter-friendly Coors Field in Denver last weekend, the Tigers roughed up a San Diego Padre ace for the second straight night with an 8-2 victory over Adam Eaton on Wednesday at Detroit.

“Why do we do this?” Tiger Manager Alan Trammell asked. “I have no idea. That’s just part of baseball. There’s really no answer for it.”

On Tuesday night, the Tigers beat Jake Peavy, 8-4.

The Tigers ended Eaton’s eight-game winning streak. Eaton (9-2) said after the game that he struggled because of a swollen right middle finger in his first loss since April 16. The finger will be examined today.

“This is definitely very disappointing,” Eaton said. “I felt like I could have put a bunch of zeros up there tonight.”

Eaton gave up six runs -- three earned -- seven hits and two walks in 2 1/3 innings. Eaton had gone at least 4 2/3 innings in each of his 13 starts this season.

Placido Polanco had three hits and three runs batted in, and Craig Monroe also had three hits -- falling a triple short of the cycle -- and scored three times for the Tigers.

New York Yankees 7, Pittsburgh 5 -- Jason Giambi hit a two-run homer into the upper deck in the 10th inning, and the Yankees won at New York with help from a questionable call at first base.

Gary Sheffield’s smash up the middle in the ninth inning appeared headed toward center for a single. But it deflected off Jose Mesa (0-5) to shortstop Jack Wilson, who tried to start a double play that would have ended the game.

Replays clearly showed the relay from second baseman Jose Castillo beat Sheffield at first, but he was called safe by umpire Tony Randazzo. The Yankees then tied the score on Jorge Posada’s two-out double.

Boston 6, Cincinnati 1 -- Bronson Arroyo gave the Red Sox their fourth straight strong performance by a starter and David Ortiz drove in three runs to complete a three-game sweep of the Reds at Boston.

Arroyo (5-3) was 0-3 in his last seven starts after going 9-0 in 17 starts dating to last season before that slump. In Boston’s three previous games, starters Tim Wakefield, Matt Clement and David Wells gave up four runs and 11 hits in 22 innings.

Texas 9, Atlanta 5 -- Chan Ho Park won his sixth straight decision, again getting plenty of offensive support from the Rangers.

Park (7-1) gave up eight singles, struck out three, walked three and hit a batter in five innings at Arlington, Texas, against a batting order that included six rookies. He threw 114 pitches before leaving with a 7-1 lead. Park went into the game getting 8.43 runs of support a start, best in the major leagues.

Tampa Bay 5, Milwaukee 3 -- Hideo Nomo gave up two runs in seven innings at St. Petersburg, Fla., to win the 200th game of his career, including his time in Japan.

Prince Fielder got his first two hits in the majors with two doubles for the Brewers, who have lost six of seven. The son of former major league slugger Cecil Fielder was the Brewers’ first-round pick in the 2002 draft.

Toronto 5, St. Louis 2 -- Ted Lilly (4-7) pitched seven scoreless innings and gave up only four singles at Toronto to lead the Blue Jays, who moved back to .500 by taking two of three from National League Central-leading St. Louis.

Lilly, who had lost his previous three starts, lowered his earned-run average to 6.48. The left-hander struck out six and walked three for his first win since May 25 versus Boston.

Chicago White Sox 12, Arizona 6 -- Juan Uribe and Paul Konerko hit three-run homers and Frank Thomas had a solo shot in a 10-run sixth inning to lead the White Sox at Chicago.

Jon Garland (11-2) gave up six earned runs and six hits in six innings and became the American League’s first 11-game winner.

Seattle 5, Philadelphia 1 -- Ichiro Suzuki hit a leadoff homer and Aaron Sele pitched six solid innings in his sixth straight strong start to lead the Mariners at Seattle.

Mike Morse hit his first major league home run, a two-run shot, and Randy Winn also connected in Seattle’s second win in a row over the Phillies.

San Francisco 8, Minnesota 4 -- Michael Tucker doubled and drove in three runs, and Moises Alou went four for four at Minneapolis to help the Giants end a four-game losing streak. The Giants won for only the third time in the last 18 games.

Baltimore 5, Houston 1 -- Rodrigo Lopez pitched eight innings of four-hit ball, and the Orioles completed a three-game sweep of the Astros at Baltimore. It was Baltimore’s first interleague sweep since July 1999 against Montreal.

Cleveland 7, Colorado 6 -- Aaron Boone homered leading off the 11th inning at Cleveland and the Indians rallied to extend their winning streak to a season-high five games. Boone entered the game batting .184.

Oakland 3, New York Mets 2 -- Marco Scutaro lined a single off the wall in left-center with two out in the ninth inning to drive in Bobby Kielty and lift the Athletics at Oakland.