Tigers come back in the ninth. Eric Fish paints the picture!

By Eric Fish

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           Pudge Rodriguez stood hunched over at the waist at second base, ready to run on a base hit. Magglio Ordonez eyed home plate from first base, fresh off a game-tying RBI single in the bottom of the ninth.

           The score was tied at six. There was one out and ducks on the pond. Kyle Farnsworth, who was traded from the Tigers last season because he refused to sign a contract extension with Detroit, was called upon to close for Yankees ace Mariano Rivera, who reportedly tweaked his back prior to Thursday’s game while putting on his shoes.

           Farnsworth eyed the batter – Carlos Guillen – and toed the slab. What ensued was a line drive into right field that scored Rodriguez from second and put the Tigers in the win column after a frustrating four-game skid. And by the sound of the crowd’s roar after Guillen’s RBI single, one never would have known that the Yankees had won the previous three games of the four-game matchup.

           Justin Verlander started for the Tigers and was roughed up for six earned runs by the powerful batting lineup of the pinstriped New Yorkers, but the Tigers woke up the bats for this outing and battled back to make it a game when being down 5-0 and 6-3 at different instances.

           Trailing the evil empire 6-5 headed into the bottom of the ninth, the Tigers rallied to pull out a much-needed victory.

           With a White Sox loss, the victory keeps the Tigers 2.5 games in first place. The Tigers will now prepare for a three-game series against the Boston Red Sox. Kenny Rogers is scheduled to face Curt Shilling Friday in the series opener. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m.

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