Ryan Raburn finally provided some pop at the plate and the Tigers claimed a series victory over the White Sox witha 7-3 win Sunday.
Raburn’s grand slam capped a six-run fourth inning for Detroit, which also got a Victor Martinez sac fly and Andy Dirks RBI double in the frame. Miguel Cabrera hit his 13th home run in the sixth inning for Detroit’s other run.
The Tigers overcame an early 2-0 deficit — Chicago put up a pair in the first as Brad Penny struggled out of the gate. Penny settled down after that, though, battling through five innings for his fifth win. The bullpen shut Chicago down after that, with Al Alberquerque stealing the show there with four Ks in two innings.
Tigers’ MVP: Raburn. He’s (rightfully) taken a lot of heat this season — including right here — but he jumped all over a Jake Peavy pitch for Sunday’s big blow. It was Raburn’s first home run since April 30.
Tigers’ Goat: Ramon Santiago. Starting at SS for Jhonny Peralta, Santiago put up an 0-for-4 with three strikeouts and left four guys on. In his last at-bat he fouled one off his knee, took a stinging foul ball off the handle of the bat, then watched a called third strike.
Where Detroit’s At: For the first time in what feels like forever, a loss didn’t turn into a losing streak — Detroit overcame Friday’s defeat to take two of three in Chicago and pull within 2 1/2 of first-place Cleveland.
What’s Next: Detroit goes to Texas for a three-game series with a Rangers team that just swept the Indians. Max Scherzer, Rick Porcello and Phil Coke are Detroit’s scheduled starters.
