Tigers’ Polanco Ends Seesaw Game

Trading for Placido Polanco is looking better each day for the Detroit Tigers.

Polanco, acquired from Philadelphia on June 8, homered with one out in the bottom of the 10th inning and gave the Tigers a 10-8 victory over the San Francisco Giants on Sunday at Detroit in a game featuring several lead changes.

“A high fastball inside,” Polanco said of the pitch he hit over the left-center-field fence off Scott Eyre (1-1). “Just trying to get a fastball.”

Polanco’s home run came an inning after Chris Shelton hit a tying two-run shot. Rondell White also homered for the Tigers. Todd Linden and Lance Niekro hit home runs for San Francisco.

Polanco is hitting .378 with one home run and seven RBIs in Detroit.

Jamie Walker (3-3) pitched a scoreless inning for the win.

Linden’s three-run homer in the top of the ninth off Troy Percival gave the Giants an 8-5 lead. However, Detroit tied it against Tyler Walker in the bottom half on Craig Monroe’s sacrifice fly and Shelton’s homer.

Giant starter Jesse Foppert lasted only 3 1/3 innings, giving up four runs and four hits and walking six.

The game was a rocky affair, with the Giants leading, 2-0, before being tied, 2-2. The Tigers then led, 4-2, before the Giants tied it, 4-4, and took the lead, 5-4. The Tigers then tied it, 5-5, before Linden’s homer.

“Lead changes, tie ballgame, home runs,” said Detroit’s Brandon Inge. “That was just scratch and claw your way to a victory right there.”

New York Yankees 6, Chicago Cubs 3 -- Mike Mussina won his third consecutive start, Alex Rodriguez got a big hit with the bases loaded and the Yankees earned a three-game sweep of the Cubs at New York. Mussina (8-4) gave up two runs and five hits in 6 1/3 innings to help the Yankees improve to 6-0 on their 13-game homestand after a 3-9 trip. Rodriguez hit a sinking liner with two outs and the bases loaded that barely eluded shortstop Neifi Perez for a two-run single.

Cleveland 3, Arizona 2 -- Jake Westbrook (4-9) worked eight strong innings at Cleveland to help the Indians win their ninth in a row. Bob Wickman pitched the ninth for his American League-leading 20th save.

Milwaukee 5, Toronto 2 -- Carlos Lee drove in his National League-leading 60th run, and Chris Capuano (6-6) and three relievers combined on a seven-hitter to lead the Brewers at Toronto.

Baltimore 4, Colorado 2 -- Rafael Palmeiro hit his 560th home run and the Orioles shook off the first ejection of Manager Lee Mazzilli’s career to win at Baltimore.

Palmeiro’s sixth-inning home run gave the Orioles a 3-2 lead and left him three short of tying Reggie Jackson for 10th on the career list. Mazzilli was ejected in the same inning for arguing a foul-ball call.

San Diego 5, Minnesota 1 -- Damian Jackson hit a tiebreaking three-run double in the seventh inning and Darrell May (1-1) outpitched AL Cy Young winner Johan Santana (7-3) to help the Padres win at Minneapolis.

Kansas City 7, Houston 1 -- Runelvys Hernandez (5-7) gave up only one hit through seven innings and won his third consecutive start for the Royals at Kansas City, Mo. Emil Brown hit a three-run homer.

Boston 8, Pittsburgh 0 -- Matt Clement (8-1) gave up three hits and struck out nine in seven innings and Jay Payton hit a two-run homer at Boston.

Washington 8, Texas 2 -- Travis Hughes (1-0) struck out three of the five batters he faced for his win, Brad Wilkerson drove in four runs and the Nationals avoided a three-game sweep at Arlington, Texas.

St. Louis 8, Tampa Bay 5 -- John Mabry drove in four runs and Albert Pujols had three hits and two runs batted in at St. Petersburg, Fla., sending the Cardinals to a season-high 9 1/2 -game lead over the Cubs in the NL Central.

Oakland 5, Philadelphia 2 -- Joe Blanton (3-6) won for the third time in four starts, Eric Chavez homered and Adam Melhuse drove in two runs to lead the A’s at Oakland.

Seattle 11, N.Y. Mets 5 -- Tom Glavine (4-7) lasted only 2 1/3 innings in his shortest start in two years and the Mariners completed a three-game sweep at Seattle. Glavine gave up six runs and eight hits.