Tigers Release Young After Loss to M's

The Detroit Tigers got rid of Dmitri Young. At the rate they're going, their once-huge AL Central lead will disappear, too. Detroit released its designated hitter after Wednesday's 5-4 loss to

Thursday, September 7th 2006, 8:47 am

By: News On 6

The Detroit Tigers got rid of Dmitri Young. At the rate they're going, their once-huge AL Central lead will disappear, too. Detroit released its designated hitter after Wednesday's 5-4 loss to the Seattle Mariners, the Tigers' 19th defeat in 28 games.

``It's a business, I guess,'' said first baseman Sean Casey, whose locker was next to Young's. ``Dmitri is a great guy and a great player. Any time you lose a player like that. ... I really don't know what to say to tell you the truth.''

Young left the team in May _ hitting .169 _ to get help at a substance-abuse center in California. Since being activated from the disabled list July 21, Young was hitting .292 with seven homers and 19 RBIs. His overall batting average was .250 in 48 games this season, his fifth in Detroit.

Tigers general manager Dave Dombrowski insisted the move was ``strictly performance related.''

``I'm not going to want to talk about it,'' Young said, wearing sunglasses, after going 0-for-3 with two strikeouts.

In other AL games it was Chicago 8, Boston 1; Tampa Bay 4, Minnesota 2; New York 8, Kansas City 3; Oakland 9, Texas 6; Los Angeles 8, Baltimore 4; Toronto 3, Cleveland 2.

At Detroit, Kenji Johjima's RBI single in the 10th inning put the Seattle Mariners ahead, and J.J. Putz held the lead. After Johjima's bloop single, Joel Zumaya (6-3) prevented further damage by getting out of a bases-loaded jam.

Jon Huber (1-0) struck out one and gave an intentional walk in the ninth inning, and Putz got three outs for his 31st save. Detroit maintained a four-game lead over second-place Minnesota in the AL Central.

``Do we have pressure on us? Yeah, we do,'' Tigers manager Jim Leyland said. ``But in my opinion, we have less pressure than Minnesota, the White Sox and some of the teams that were supposed to win.''

White Sox 8, Red Sox 1

Jose Contreras (12-7) won for the first time in four starts, allowing one run and four hits in eight innings with nine strikeouts and one walk at Fenway Park.

Jim Thome went 4-for-4 with his 39th homer as the White Sox won for the second time in seven games and moved a half-game behind the Twins. The Red Sox remained six back of the Twins.

Jermaine Dye hit his 40th homer for Chicago. Kyle Snyder (4-4) allowed five runs and seven hits in 2 1-3 innings.

Devil Rays 4, Twins 2

Greg Norton and Ty Wigginton hit consecutive homers in the seventh off Pat Neshek (3-1), ending Tampa Bay's streak of 14 losses to Minnesota.

Joe Mauer and Rondell White homered for the visiting Twins.

Shawn Camp (7-2) was the winner, and Seth McClung pitched the ninth for his fifth save.

Yankees 8, Royals 3

Randy Johnson (16-10) didn't allow a hit until David DeJesus tripled leading off the seventh, and Jorge Posada hit a pair of three-run homers at Kansas City.

Johnson allowed just the one hit and struck out eight in seven shutout innings. After his triple, DeJesus was picked off third by Posada.

Derek Jeter extended his hitting streak to a career-high 17 games, going 2-for-4. He raised his batting average to .344, one point behind Minnesota catcher Joe Mauer, the AL leader.

Runelvys Hernandez (5-9) allowed five runs and seven hits in six innings.

Athletics 9, Rangers 6

Mark Kotsay hit a go-ahead three-run double and matched his career high with four RBIs, Frank Thomas homered for the second straight day and Oakland overcame a 4-0 deficit to avoid a three-game sweep. The A's maintained their 5 1/2-game AL West lead.

Joe Blanton (15-10) won for the fourth time in five starts despite allowing six runs and 11 hits in six innings, and Justin Duchscherer pitched two innings for his fifth straight save.

Mark Teixeira homered twice and drove in five runs for the visiting Rangers. Josh Rupe (0-1) gave up three runs, three hits and a walk without retiring a batter.

Angels 8, Orioles 4

Chone Figgins drove in the go-ahead run with a sixth-inning double off Chris Britton (0-2), and Howie Kendrick homered as Los Angeles completed a three-game sweep that extended its winning streak to five.

Vladimir Guerrero drove in two to back Ervin Santana (14-7), who allowed four runs and seven hits in seven innings.

Blue Jays 3, Indians 2

Ted Lilly (12-12) matched his career high in victories, giving up two runs and four hits in six innings, and Russ Adams drove in two runs for Toronto off Jake Westbrook (12-9).

B.J. Ryan pitched the ninth for his 21st save, finishing a five-hitter. Jason Michaels hit a two-run double for the visiting Indians, who lost two of three to the Blue Jays.