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 The Tigers' left fielder hit a one-out, sacrifice fly that brought
home James McCann with the game-winning run as the Tigers edged the
Tampa Bay Rays 8-7 in 13 innings on Tuesday night at Comerica Park.
Davis' fly ball finished off a 5-hour, 3-minute marathon.
"It was definitely a long game," he said. "Everything else is just
blurry right now. I'm just glad we were able to pull out the win."
McCann, Detroit's catcher, reached on a leadoff single. He advanced
to second on Jefry Marte's sacrifice that was bobbled by losing
pitcher Andrew Bellatti (2-1), allowing Marte to reach first.
Following third baseman Andrew Romine's sacrifice bunt, Davis hit
the ball just far enough to left field to bring in McCann.
The only other Tigers game that lasted longer this season was a 5-4,
14-inning loss to Pittsburgh that took 5 hours, 30 minutes to
complete.
"If you're going to stay here this long, you might as well win,"
McCann said. "It's hard to walk out of a game like that with a
loss."
Davis was quite active throughout the game, even if it all seemed to
swirl in his brain afterward. He hit his third home run in the last
two games during the third inning. He was also involved in four
replay reviews.
"I can't say I've ever witnessed that or been a part of anything
like that before but we came up on the good side of it," he said.
"It's definitely one of those records I have now, a personal record,
being reviewed all those times."
Right fielder J.D. Martinez added his 36th homer, Romine drove in
two runs and Kyle Ryan (2-3) got the victory with 1 1/3 innings of
scoreless relief for Detroit (64-74).
Third baseman Evan Longoria knocked in three runs for the Rays
(67-71), who lost for the fifth time in six games and dropped four
games below .500 for the first time this season.
Bellatti, who was brought up from Triple-A Durham on Tuesday,
pitched a scoreless 12th and manager Kevin Cash decided to leave him
in for another inning.
"He looked really good throwing the ball," Cash said. "We misplayed
a bunt and when you're given an out, you've got to get the out and
not allow them to bunt again. But stuff-wise, he looked really good.
He went through the teeth of their lineup the inning before."
Tampa Bay starter Erasmo Ramirez struck out a season-high nine
batters in five-plus innings. But Cash took him out with his club
leading 5-1 after Ramirez gave up three singles in the sixth. The
Tigers ended up tying the game that inning.
Ramirez squandered a four-run lead in his previous start.
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"As far as the decision in the sixth, it was probably heading toward
deja vu all over again," Cash said. "We felt, 'Let's try to nip it
right there.' At that point, our best chance of winning was to shut
down that inning."
The Rays batted around in the sixth, scoring four runs to break a
1-1 tie. Pinch-hitter Grady Sizemore, Longoria, second baseman Logan
Forsythe and designated hitter Tim Beckham had run-scoring singles
during the outburst.
Detroit then tied it after Bellatti was removed. A bases-loaded walk
and a hit batter brought in the first two runs and Romine knotted it
with a two-out, two-run single.
Tampa Bay regained the lead at 6-5 in the seventh on pinch-hitter
Daniel Nava's RBI single off Blaine Hardy. The Tigers tied it in the
bottom of the inning when center fielder Anthony Gose scored on
catcher Rene Rivera's throwing error.
Martinez blasted a go-ahead, leadoff home run in the eighth.
Longoria's bases-loaded sacrifice fly in the ninth against Detroit
closer Bruce Rondon tied it again at 7.
NOTES: Detroit DH Victor Martinez was out of the lineup for the
second straight game because of an illness. ... The Tigers recalled
OF Steven Moya, INFs Jefry Marte and Josh Wilson and LHP Ian Krol
from Triple-A Toledo on Tuesday. All but Moya had previous stints
with the Tigers this season. The Mud Hens' season ended on Monday.
... The Rays recalled INF Nick Franklin and RHP Andrew Bellatti from
Triple-A Durham, which also completed its season on Monday. ...
Tampa Bay 2B Logan Forsythe was named the American League Player of
the Week for Aug. 31-Sept. 6 after hitting .545. "I went through a
stretch where the swing was just feeling right," Forsythe said.
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