Tigers top Orioles in sweltering slugfest

The Detroit Tigers have seen both ends of the American League pitching spectrum in their last two games.

After being slowed by Seattle All-Star Cliff Lee, the Tigers became the latest team to batter slumping Kevin Millwood in a 12-9 victory over the visiting Baltimore Orioles yesterday.

"We know we've got a great lineup that just got shut down by a great pitcher," said Carlos Guillen, who had three RBI. "Today, we did what a good team should do and bounced back."

Millwood was yanked after allowing five runs in a 45-pitch first inning. He has allowed at least two first-inning runs in eight of his last nine starts.

Detroit rookie starter Andy Oliver didn't fare much better, giving up six runs - five earned - in 1 2/3 innings. Handed an early 5-1 lead, he gave up five runs in the second.

On a 90-degree day, the game's opening two innings took 80 minutes to play and required 145 pitches to get 12 outs. Detroit led, 8-6, at the end of the second.

"That was ugly - real ugly - but it was pretty at the end," Tigers manager Jim Leyland said. "It was a tough day to play for both teams, and there wasn't much pitching, but we ended up on the right side of the score."

Orioles pitchers never managed a 1-2-3 inning in just the third major league game in 2 years where neither starting pitcher lasted two innings.

Brandon Inge, who had four RBI, Guillen and Johnny Damon each had three of Detroit's 17 hits in a game that lasted 3:44.

"It was hot-I think the veins are still popping out of my head," Inge said. "You don't want to play that long in this kind of heat and end up with a loss."

Brennan Boesch was the only starter without a hit, but became the first Tigers rookie to walk four times in a game since Steve Boros in 1961.

Baltimore's Jake Fox hit the game's lone home run, making it 8-7 in the third. Matt Wieters had a two-run double off Jose Valverde in the ninth, but the Detroit closer escaped a two-on, one-out jam to end it.

"We always thought we had a chance to get back into the game," Orioles manager Juan Samuel said. "We've been in these situations, and we keep fighting, so I knew we'd give ourselves a chance."

Still, the Orioles ended up losing their fourth in five games, and Samuel hinted that there would be roster moves before the teams meet again tonight.

"We're looking at a lot of things - whether we need an extra pitcher after using the 'pen so much today or whether we need another hitter," he said. "We don't have to decide anything until tomorrow."

Eddie Bonine (4-0) got the win despite allowing six hits, including Fox's homer, in 2 2/3 innings.

"When you make it hard on yourself in this kind of heat, which I did, it becomes an endurance thing," he said. "I can't even imagine trying to pitch seven or eight innings in that weather."

Mark Hendrickson (1-4) allowed three runs and six hits in three innings.

The Tigers held their 8-7 edge until the fifth, when Austin Jackson hit an RBI triple and scored on a single by Magglio Ordonez.

In other games:

* At Oakland, Mark Teixeira homered and Javier Vazquez pitched seven strong innings as the Yankees defeated the Athletics, 3-1.

* At Chicago, Carlos Quentin hit two home runs and Gavin Floyd (4-7) pitched seven solid innings to lead the White Sox over the Los Angeles Angels, 9-2.

* At St. Petersburg, Jason Bartlett's sacrifice fly in the seventh inning snapped a tie and the Tampa Bay Rays rallied from a four-run deficit to beat Boston, 6-5.

* At Arlington, Texas, Jayson Nix homered twice and the Cleveland Indians routed the Rangers, 9-3.

* Cleveland Indians rightfielder Shin-Soo Choo will have his sprained right thumb examined to determine if surgery is necessary. Choo sustained the injury diving for a ball in the outfield on Friday and was placed on the 15-day disabled list Sunday.

* The Baltimore Orioles are close to offering ESPN analyst Buck Showalter an offer to manage the team, ESPN reported.

* The Texas Rangers plan to hold an auction on July 16 for the team's sale in hopes of getting the bankruptcy plan approved, according to a court motion filed yesterday.