Detroit Free Press from Detroit, Michigan • 31

TIGERS FRIDAY. JUNE 27. 2008 DETROIT FREE PRESS WWW FREEPCOM TIGERS I Thomas' walk-off walk wins it up. ij yl mi. tii fj i s'.

4 r-. i 1 1 ft ii xf 1 Sheffield erases doubts DH a hero in back-to-back 9ths TIGERS CORNER By JON PAUL MOROSI and JOHN LOWF. FRfcE PRfcSS SPORTS WRITERS Tigers manager Jim Leyland pushes Placido Polanco away from umpire Paul Schrieber after Schrieber ejected Polanco in the sixth inning for arguing balls and strikes. 1 TIF '( -ik i ft V- wis Tigers schedule Home games shaded. 17.

1 JULIAN H. The win enabled the Tigers to take a three-game series from a formidable St. Louis team it opposed in the World Series two years ago. The series took on an uncommon intensity and brought out the combustible side of Marcus Thames and Placido Polanco, two of the Tigers' more mild-mannered players. Thames was ejected for arguing balls and strikes Wednesday.

Polanco was tossed for the same offense in Thursday's sixth inning; he discarded his helmet and bat in protest before leaving the field. "Arguments are part of baseball," manager Jim Ley--land said. "They always have been. They always will be. I think it's a healthy part of the game, as long as it doesn't get JUUAN H.

GONZAtEZDetrolt free Press Tigers designated hitter Gary Sheffield ties Thursday's game with a solo home run in the ninth. Sheffield went 6-for-13 in the three-game series. From Page 1C feeling." More remarkable was that Thomas had another RBI walk earlier in the game. The Tigers scored their first run in the sixth, when Thomas watched a Ron Villone pitch skirt the strike zone. Thomas saw a total of 12 pitches in those two at-bats.

He swung at one a 2-2 fastball from Parisi that he fouled straight back. Through it all, he impressed the accomplished man who stood on deck. "He's not scared," Gary Sheffield said. "That's what I look for out of any player. He's not scared.

I'll take a Clete Thomas on my team any day. He's a guy that will go to war with you. If I was in a foxhole, I'd want him with me. "This guy, I watch him. He has no fear in his eyes." Thomas batted in the 10th only after Cardinals manager Tony La Russa elected to intentionally walk Miguel Cabrera.

Cabrera was 0-for-4 on Thursday and at one point had swung at seven consecutive pitches without making good contact. But his resume' was the determining factor. It was Sheffield's recharged bat that provided Thomas with his big chance. The Tigers trailed, 2-1, with one out in the ninth when Sheffield dug in against closer Ryan Franklin. Sheffield was hitless in seven career at-bats against Franklin, according to STATS LLC.

That changed quickly. He snapped a 2-2 pitch over the wall in leftfield for a game-tying home run. One inning later, the Tigers celebrated their 14th victory in 18 games. The Tigers remained five games behind the American League Central-leading Chicago White Sox, after trailing by as many as 11 this month. "We have the type of team where we can make up any deficit," Sheffield said.

"We have that much talent in this room. Earlier in the year, we wouldn't have won a game like this." GONMLEZDetroit Free Press out of hand." Tigers left-hander Nate Robertson surrendered 11 hits in 6's innings but did not allow an earned run. He was in line for the victory until a throwing error by second baseman Ryan Raburn enabled St. Louis to force a 1-1 tie in the seventh. The Cardinals went ahead in the ninth, 2-L when Albert Pujols (4-for-4) singled in a run against Todd Jones, but Sheffield forced extra innings with career home run No.

485. "I think I'll keep him in the lineup," Leyland said with a wry, winning smile. Contact JON PAUL MOROSI at 313-223-4097 or jmorosudfreepress.com. Check out his Tigers blog at www.freep.comsports. Puqrfe Heart SUN Imon TUE WED THU FRI SAT 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 Det.

St.L Det. Det. Col. Col. 5, 8, 8, 3, 7:05 7:05 S.D.3 Det.4St.U5t.L2 FSN FSN opi 29 30 1 2 3 4 5 Col.

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Sea. 1:05 8:10 8:10 1:10 10:10 4:10 10:10 FSN FSN FSN FSN FSN FSN FSN Support our troops UUIllllV Your Car Minutes after his ninth-inning hit ended the marathon game that began Wednesday night, Gary Sheffield was asked if he ever doubted whether he would be completely healthy again. "No. No. Never," he said.

"No doubt. There is no doubt in me." The believers surely grew in number Thursday afternoon after he smashed a game-tying home run in the ninth inning off St. Louis closer Ryan Franklin. Sheffield is 6-for-13 in three games since returning from the disabled list. A left oblique strain was the injury that sidelined him, but he had been affected by pain in his right shoulder the season.

He has said his shoulder is healthy. And it shows. "We're tickled," Tigers manager Jim Leyland said before Thursday's game. "I just hope we can get back to somewhere close to the Gary Sheffield we all know. That'll be good enough.

"He's hitting them all now. He's on it pretty good." Sheffield, 39, was the designated hitter and batted seventh Thursday, as he had in the two previous games. He is hitting .235 this season, the first of a two-year, $28-million contract extension he signed as part of his trade to Detroit after the 2006 season. "Skip knows me better than anybody in this game," Sheffield said of Leyland. "Having him as my manager made it a lot easier to deal with.

I knew, once I get healthy, I'll make up forlosttime. "From this point on, it's only going to get stronger." LEFTY WOES: The Tigers have two left-handed relievers, Casey Fossum and Bobby Seay, and neither has fared well against left-handed hitters. Lefties are batting .417 against Fossum (5-for-12) and .308 against Seay (16-for-52). Seay earned the victory Thursday after retiring two left-handed hitters in the 10th. Overall, left-handers were batting .279 against Detroit en- i 'ninir 1 1 til I On deck: Rockies Series: Colorado at Tigers for three games, tonight, Saturday and Sunday.

TVradio: Tonight FSN, WXYT-AM (1270), WXYT-FM (97.1), WTKA-AM (1050); Saturday 7:05, FSN, WXYT, WTKA; Sunday FSN, WXYT, WTKA. Pitching: Tonight -RH Eddie Bonine (1-0, 5.84 ERA) vs. RH Ubaldo Jimenez (2-7, 4.52); Saturday RH Justin Verlander vs. LH Jeff Francis (3-7, 5.65); Sunday LH Kenny Rogers (5-5, 4.60) vs. RH Greg Reynolds (2-5, 5.68).

tering Thursday, among the highest averages in the league. The Tigers may be able to address that shortcoming without trading for help. Right-handers Fernando Rodney and Joel Zumaya were so effective in 2006 that Leyland rarely replaced them with a left-hander when a big lefty came to the plate. Now both are back on the active roster. Rodney had his best outing of the season Thursday.

He pitched PA perfect innings and retired two left-handed hitters. Rodney's change-up a terrific pitch against left-handers was back. "That was so good to see," Nate Robertson said of Rodney's performance. "He commanded his fastball. He's filthy.

That change-up's one of the best, if not the best, in the league." Zumaya has retired less than half of the batters he has faced in his first three appearances this year. "He's not right yet," Leyland 248-597-1000 puritlehf arlcars.org 1 CONCERT SERIES i said Thursday when asked about Zumaya. "He's healthy, but he's not right yet, because he hasn't been out there. That's not his fault. It's going to take Rodney and him time to get back in sync.

"Right now, his delivery is not exactly what we need it to be. But that'll get straightened out. I'm not worried about that. The health is there. That's the thing I'm happiest about." A ROCKY TIME: The Colorado Rockies, the last team Leyland managed before coming to Detroit, will be at Comerica Park tonight to start a three-game series.

Leyland left the Rockies after one season, 1999. "I'll say one thing about it," Leyland said. I disappointed a couple real good friends in Col orado. I feel bad about it, but that's the end of the story. I'm not talking about Colorado.

"I didn't do a good job That's the end of that. I was treated as good (there) as I've been treated anywhere. Peri' od." Contact JOHN LOWE at 313-223-4053 or jlowefreepress.com. Check out his Tigers blog at www.freep.comsports. Arena I LJtw I -v )J -C, if feMilJJI AM Hue lay Only! Juno 28 at Joe Louis bl id i ill 1 A a I villi ipiclilguisti KELLfE PiCKLER JASON MICHAEL 1 3 m'- NtW AIJtUM AViUUflIJi NOW TIAt t's IKIW KXX A PERSONAL STAND dSf AVAILABLE NOW TJ7P CON CE FIT SERIES tTB 10 a.m.-5 p.m.

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