Tigers 2, Rays 1
Alex Avila tied the game with an RBI single in the seventh inning and Jhonny Peralta followed with a sacrifice fly as the Detroit Tigers defeated the host Tampa Bay Rays 2-1 on Tuesday for their fifth straight win.
Phil Coke pitched the final two innings and struck out five for his fifth career save and first in 2011. He retired Ben Zobrist on a ground out with runners on second and third for the final out.
Detroit increased its lead in the American League Central to six games over Cleveland and 6 1/2 over Chicago.
Tampa Bay left 12 on base, including seven in the last three innings, and fell 8 1/2 games behind in the American League wild card race.
Delmon Young and Miguel Cabrera led off the seventh with singles off losing pitcher David Price (11-11). Young was erased at the plate on a nice play by Evan Longoria at third, but Price’s wild pitch set up the runs for the Tigers.
Detroit starter Brad Penny (9-9) allowed eight hits and one run over 6 1/3 innings. He walked one despite only throwing 55 of his 101 pitches for strikes.
Zobrist had an RBI double for the Rays in the third for his 63rd extra-base hit, topping his career high of 62 set in 2009.
Desmond Jennings had three hits for the Rays, who have lost all five games to the Tigers.
The start of the game was delayed 20 minutes by a power outage.