Rival watch - Tigers beat A's in dramatic fashion, Indians 3.5 GB in WC race, 6 GB in AL Central
DETROIT (AP) -- Torii Hunter hit a three-run homer with two outs in the ninth inning, lifting Detroit over the Oakland Athletics 7-6 Thursday and boosting the Tigers after Max Scherzer was denied his 20th win and Miguel Cabrera limped off with an injury.
The Tigers scored four times in the ninth off Grant Balfour (0-3). A two-out walk set up Victor Martinez' RBI single, then Hunter homered as the Tigers avoided a sweep.
Scherzer gave up six runs in five innings. The no-decision left him with a 19-1 record.
Cabrera hurt his abdomen making an awkward slide while trying to stretch a single into a double in the fifth inning. He was listed as day to day with discomfort.
The reigning Triple Crown winner has been hobbled this month with a strain in his groin, abdominal and hip area. He's also had a banged-up left leg.
Cabrera got two hits before being injured, increasing his major league-leading batting average to .359. He leads baseball with 130 RBIs, and his 43 homers trail only Baltimore's Chris Davis.
Scherzer's bid to be the first pitcher in the major leagues with 20 wins this season didn't look good at the start.
Coco Crisp led off the game with a double and Lowrie hit a one-out, two-run homer on a thigh-high, 92-mph fastball. Scherzer held the A's to only one hit over the next two innings, but they built a four-run cushion in the fourth on sacrifice flies by Daric Barton and Eric Sogard.
Josh Donaldson hit a leadoff triple in the fifth and Brandon Moss homered deep into the right-field seats to make it 6-1.
A's starter Bartolo Colon was in a position to win his 15th game. He allowed only one run and five hits without a walk over five innings in his first start since Aug. 13, when a groin injury landed him on the disabled list.
Prince Fielder hit a solo homer in the sixth off Jerry Blevins, who gave up another run and retired only one batter to let the Tigers pull within three runs.
Oakland's Dan Otero and Sean Doolittle each followed with a 1 1-3 innings of scoreless relief, setting Balfour up to potentially pitch for his 34th save in 35 chances. He gave up a leadoff walk to Austin Jackson and walked Fielder with two outs.
Balfour then got ahead 0-2 against Martinez, but couldn't get a third strike against him and that proved to be costly. Balfour gave up two hits, two walks and four runs and got just two outs in the pivotal inning that prevented the A's from finishing off a four-game sweep.
NOTES: Tigers manager Jim Leyland said the team has decided which players will be added to the roster when it expands to 40 players on Sept. 1, but declined to make any announcements. Leyland said the call-ups will happen in multiple groups, starting on Sept. 1 and continuing as minor league seasons come to an end. ... Moss' four homers in the series were more than he hit in three of his first five major league seasons. Moss didn't reach double figures until last year, his sixth, when he hit 21 for Oakland.
