Tigers make a habit of rallying to win

DETROIT -- Miguel Cabrera would prefer it if the struggling Detroit Tigers put games away earlier than the eighth inning.

Cabrera hit a two-run homer Tuesday night to cap Detroit’s second straight eighth-inning rally, beating the Minnesota Twins, 6-5.

Magglio Ordonez homered and drove in two runs, and Gary Sheffield and Carlos Guillen also hit home runs for Detroit, which scored six times Monday in the eighth inning for an 11-9 win over Minnesota. The Tigers improved to 4-10 with the two wins.

“We need to score runs early in the game,” Cabrera said. “Don’t want to wait until seventh, eighth inning . . . it’s tough that way.”

Justin Morneau homered for Minnesota.

The Tigers trailed, 4-3, going into the eighth, but Placido Polanco walked with one out. He advanced to third on Jesse Crain’s wild pickoff throw to first. An out later, Ordonez doubled to right to tie it and Cabrera followed with a drive over the left-field fence for his second home run of the season.

Todd Jones worked the ninth, giving up a run but logging his second save.

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RESULTS

Boston 5, at Cleveland 3: Jason Varitek hit a pinch-hit home run in the ninth inning off Jensen Lewis to lead Boston to a two-game sweep in an ALCS rematch. The Red Sox, who won three straight over the Indians to advance to the World Series last October, will take a four-game winning streak to New York for a two-game set at Yankee Stadium starting today.

at Chicago 4, Oakland 1: John Danks celebrated his 23rd birthday with his first win in 12 starts, taking a shutout into the eighth inning. Carlos Quentin hit a three-run homer in the fourth for the White Sox.

at Seattle 11, Kansas City 6: Jose Lopez became the 12th player in major league history to hit three sacrifice flies in a game, Yuniesky Betancourt drove in three runs and the Mariners set a season high for runs. Lopez joined Edgar Martinez as the only Mariners to have three sacrifice flies in a game.

New York 5, at Tampa Bay 3: Andy Pettitte allowed three runs over seven innings and Hideki Matsui homered to lead the Yankees to a two-game sweep. Former Dodger Edwin Jackson (2-1) took the loss.

Toronto 11, at Baltimore 3: Aaron Hill hit a three-run homer, Alex Rios and Matt Stairs each had two RBIs, and former Angel David Eckstein had three hits and scored three runs for the Blue Jays, who reached season highs in runs and hits (16).

at Detroit 6, Minnesota 5: Miguel Cabrera hit a two-run homer to cap the Tigers’ three-run eighth, their second straight eighth-inning rally.

Angels 7, at Texas 4: The Angels handed Texas its fifth straight loss.