One day removed from a two-homer effort in which we found out his nickname was "The Puma", Miguel Cabrera ended a dramatic 6-run comeback for the Tigers with a walk-off home run to beat the Indians, 8-6.Detroit spotted Cleveland a six run lead in the sixth before Edgar Renteria singled home Matt Joyce in the bottom of the inning. Detroit then rattled off five runs in the bottom of the seventh, highlighted by Joyce's two-run game-tying home run off of reliever Rafael Betancourt.
Despite Todd Jones' best efforts to relinquish the lead back to the Indians, a couple of stellar defensive plays by Carlos Guillen allowed Detroit to enter the bottom of the ninth with the game still tied. Marcus Thames led off the inning with a single, followed by Guillen popping out to Indians C Kelly Shoppach.
Enter The Puma. Cabrera took a 1-0 fastball from reliever Jensen Lewis and ripped a screaming line drive that landed in the Tiger bullpen. What followed was the standard helmet tossing, home plate mobbing, elaborate high-fiving celebration that is par for the course for any professional baseball team.
The Tigers remain seven games back of the White Sox with 72 games remaining. Although Chicago has yet to show signs of slowing down, Detroit has kept pace despite the absence of Magglio Ordonez (oblique injury) and the loss of Jeremy Bonderman for the season (blood clot). Ordonez should be back sometime next week, putting Detroit in position to make a run for the AL Central after the All-Star break.
(Photo: AP Images)
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