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GAME LOG
DETROIT (AP) -- Dean Palmer hardly is a noted singles hitter. After a recent 0-for-12 slump, he was happy with anything he could
get.
Palmer hit three run-scoring singles as Detroit beat Houston 8-2
Thursday night, the Tigers' first win in seven meetings with the
Astros the past three seasons.
Rich Becker hit two doubles and scored three runs for the Tigers, 0-6 against the Astros in interleague play in 1998 and
1999.
Palmer batted just .200 (8-for-40) with an 0-for-12 skid during
a nine-game road trip that preceded the All-Star break. So he came
back and took some extra batting practice before the game.
"I hit early," Palmer said. "I've felt bad the last week and
straightened it out a little bit."
Palmer keyed a 12-hit attack that helped keep Detroit on its
recent roll. The Tigers have won seven of 10 overall and 12 of 18.
"We're playing confidently," Palmer said. "We're coming to
the ballpark feeling like we have a chance to win."
At the very least, the Tigers are playing more like the club
manager Phil Garner thought he had coming out of spring training.
Not the one that started 5-17 and 9-23.
"We're more in line with what I thought we could do," Garner
said. "Our pitching is middle of the pack, and that's where I
thought we'd be. Our offense is starting to do things I thought it
could do. On balance I see us coming to the ballpark expecting good
things to happen."
Houston -- the worst team in the major leagues at 30-58 -- has
lost five of seven and 18 of 24.
"I hate to see that in the first game of the second half,"
Astros manager Larry Dierker said. "If we'd have come out and won
the game, we might get the feeling we're ready to get going
again."
Brian Moehler (6-5) gave up 11 hits in his first complete game
since last Aug. 30 against Texas. Helped by three double plays, he
won for the fifth time in seven decisions.
"I wasn't fooling them by any means," Moehler said. "But you
make a pitch when you have to and I felt like I did tonight."
Moehler is 4-1 with a 3.04 ERA in seven starts at Comerica Park.
"I wouldn't say it was his best outing," Garner said, "but he
got a couple of double plays early and we were able to put some
runs on the board for him."
Shane Reynolds (6-6) lasted just 51 pitches and 3 1/3 innings, allowing seven runs and seven hits.
"I don't know if I've ever seen Shane get hit that hard,"
Dierker said. "He didn't give up home runs, but practically
everyone that came up hit the ball hard. That's not him. He had a
real long rest. Maybe he was just not sharp with his control."
Reynolds lost his third straight decision and hasn't won in five
starts since beating Colorado on June 13.
"I felt fine," Reynolds said. "I've been throwing off the
mound every single day since my last start just trying to find the
right feeling, the right arm slot. I thought my stride was too
long. Maybe I was out there thinking about the stride and striding
too far instead of just throwing the ball."
Luis Polonia singled leading off the first and scored on a
double by Becker, who came home on Palmer's single.
Palmer hit another RBI single in the third after consecutive
walks to Becker and Bobby Higginson.
Daryle Ward's run-scoring single pulled the Astros to 3-1 in the
fourth after Richard Hidalgo reached on a fielder's choice, stole
second and moved up on shortstop Deivi Cruz's fielding error.
Detroit chased Reynolds in a four-run, five-hit fourth that
included another RBI single from Palmer, a run-scoring single from
Higginson and Polonia's sacrifice fly. Another run scored on right
fielder Lance Berkman's fielding error.
"They came out swinging real aggressive and they put the bat on
the ball real well and hit the ball well," Houston's Craig Biggio
said. "It's just one of those nights where we just got beat."
Houston added a run in the eighth on Hidalgo's RBI forceout. The
Tigers answered back in the bottom of the inning with Polonia's
second sacrifice fly.
Game notes
Berkman had a nightmarish fourth inning. He was thrown out
at home by Palmer while trying to score on Hidalgo's grounder to
third in the top of the inning, then overran Juan Encarnacion's
single for an error and missed a diving attempt on Deivi Cruz's
single in the bottom half. ... Houston's Jeff Bagwell was 0-for-3
with a walk, ending a 10-game hitting streak. ... The Tigers are
7-6 and the Astros 4-6 in interleague play. ... Reynolds lost for
the second time in six road decisions.
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