Raburn Steps Right In For Sheffield, Hitting Two Homers And Driving In Seven Runs

Ryan Raburn was being honest in assessing his performance as an emergency fill-in for Gary Sheffield. <br/><br/>``I think it's probably the best game I've ever had, and probably ever will,''

Thursday, July 26th 2007, 7:58 am

By: News On 6

Ryan Raburn was being honest in assessing his performance as an emergency fill-in for Gary Sheffield.

``I think it's probably the best game I've ever had, and probably ever will,'' Raburn said after hitting two homers and driving in seven runs in the Detroit Tigers' 13-9 victory over the Chicago White Sox on Wednesday night.

The 26-year-old got the call with Sheffield sitting out with a sore right shoulder.

Raburn was called up for the first time this season from Triple-A Toledo on July 6. He hit his first career homer last Friday and is 10-for-20 in nine games, with three homers and 10 RBIs.

``What I like about him is he's a hungry player,'' Tigers manager Jim Leyland said. ``He went down to Triple-A and did everything we asked. He has some versatility and we're going to use him.''

Raburn's only other appearance in the big leagues was a 12-game stretch with Detroit in 2004.

In other AL games on Wednesday, it was: Cleveland 1, Boston 0; New York 7, Kansas City 1; Los Angeles 7, Oakland 6; Texas 7, Seattle 6; Toronto 13, Minnesota 1; and Baltimore 6, Tampa Bay 1.

Raburn's night didn't start impressively as he laid down a sacrifice bunt in the first inning.

``I don't know who the dumb (guy) was who had him bunt the first time,'' Leyland said. ``I wanted to try and get a run on the board in the first inning. It didn't work, obviously. Maybe it made him mad.''

Raburn homered in the third and fourth innings and had an RBI double during Detroit's five-run fifth. He drove in two more runs with a single in the ninth.

The seven RBIs were the most for a Tiger since Carlos Pena had seven on May 19, 2003, at Cleveland, and are one shy of the club record held by Jim Northrup.

Reliever Jason Grilli (5-2) got the win, giving up two runs and three hits in three innings. Tim Byrdak pitched two perfect innings for his first save.

Both starting pitchers struggled.

Kenny Rogers lasted four innings, allowing four homers and seven runs.

Jose Contreras (5-13) gave up nine runs and 12 hits in 4 2-3 innings. He has lost six straight starts and has a 9.41 ERA in that span. He is 1-9 over his last 11 starts.

``It was real bad pitching on both sides,'' White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen said.

Contreras said he felt more confident on Wednesday than he has all year. He said he's not hurt.

``It's location for me,'' Contreras said through an interpreter. ``I'm trying to hit my spots and the ball is not moving. It's staying right in the middle of the plate.''

Jermaine Dye, Josh Fields, Juan Uribe and Andy Gonzalez homered for Chicago.

``It was a hitter's night tonight,'' Dye said.

Indians 1, Red Sox 0

Fausto Carmona (13-4) allowed four singles in eight innings to improve to 5-0 in July. He had not faced the Red Sox since blowing consecutive save chances at Fenway Park last season, two outings that all but finished the Indians' experiment with him as their closer. Joe Borowski worked the ninth for his 29th save.

Josh Beckett (13-4) lost on the road for the first time since last September as the Red Sox had a five-game winning streak snapped. He allowed four hits in his fourth career complete game, including Franklin Gutierrez's homer in the third.

Yankees 7, Royals 1

Alex Rodriguez hit his 499th homer as the Yankees won their sixth straight and moved within 6 1/2 games of Boston, as close as they have been since May 10. Melky Cabrera and Hideki Matsui also homered for New York, which got 13 hits for the third straight game. Mike Mussina (5-7) allowed one run and six hits in 5 2-3 innings.

Gil Meche (7-7) gave up five runs and nine hits in 7 1-3 innings, ending a streak that saw him go 4-0 in seven starts.

Angels 7, Athletics 6

Maicer Izturis' RBI single in the bottom of the ninth let Los Angeles rally from Francisco Rodriguez's third blown save in the top of the inning and avoid a three-game sweep. Rodriguez (4-2) took the ball with a 6-3 lead but failed to preserve the win for John Lackey.

Casey Kotchman singled off Joe Kennedy (3-9) with one out in the ninth, advanced to second on a groundout, took third on a passed ball and scored on Izturis' hit. Kennedy fell to 1-10 lifetime against the Angels. His only win against them came on Monday night.

Mike Piazza hit his third of the season for Oakland, all at Angel Stadium.

Rangers 7, Mariners 6

Ramon Vazquez hit a two-run homer with two outs in the eighth, the first blown save of the season for J.J. Putz, to complete the Rangers' four-game sweep.

Putz hadn't allowed a run in 16 road appearances this season and had converted a major league-leading 31 consecutive save chances since last season, including all 29 this year. He came on with one on and one out in the eighth and struck out Gerald Laird before allowing Vazquez's fifth homer of the season.

Adrian Beltre tied a team record with three doubles and drove in four runs for the Mariners, who have lost six straight for the third time this season.

Blue Jays 13, Twins 1

Gregg Zaun homered and drove in four runs for Toronto, which tied a franchise record with an 11-run sixth inning and completed the three-game sweep. The Blue Jays (51-50) have won a season-high five straight to move over .500 for the first time since June 27.

Zaun singled in the fifth, then had an RBI double and three-run homer in the sixth. Jesse Litsch (3-4) allowed one run and five hits over seven innings.

Carlos Silva (8-11) allowed six runs and eight hits over 5 1-3 innings for the Twins, who lost their fourth straight.

Orioles 6, Devil Rays 1

Erik Bedard (10-4) allowed one run in six innings to earn his sixth straight victory. He struck out eight to increase his league-leading total to 175. He gave up six hits, walked two and lowered his ERA to 3.05, fifth-best in the league.

Corey Patterson went 3-for-4 with a double and a home run for the Orioles.

Raul Casanova homered for the Devil Rays, who have lost five straight and 22 of 27.