Tigers stage two-inning rally for fifth straight win

DETROIT (AP) -- Even if the numbers weren't pretty, Eddie Bonine had a successful major league debut.

Miguel Cabrera and Marcus Thames homered and the Detroit Tigers scored nine runs in the fourth and fifth innings combined to beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 12-7 on Saturday.

Cabrera, Thames, Curtis Granderson and Edgar Renteria each drove in two runs for the Tigers, who won their fifth straight game and seventh in their last eight.

Andre Ethier homered and had four RBIs for the Dodgers, who have lost four straight and 16 of their last 22.

Bonine (1-0) had his contract purchased from Triple-A Toledo before the game and got the win, allowing six runs and nine hits in 5 1/3 innings. He didn't walk a batter and struck out two.

"I was impressed with Bonine," said Detroit manager Jim Leyland. "He did a great job, threw the ball over the plate. I liked him. He had a good ballgame."

Bonine said he was "very nervous" at first, but it went away.

"It was fun. The guys picked me up with a lot of runs today," he said. "I'll have to improve on that outing and get better."

Bonine had been in the minors for over five seasons.

"I always had faith that this day would happen," he said. "Some of the roads, they're a little longer than others."

Brad Penny (5-9) gave up seven runs and seven hits in 3 2/3 innings with two walks and didn't strike out a batter.

Penny said he felt discomfort while warming up in the bullpen. He's been bothered by a sore shoulder for most of the season and has been taking pain medication before every start since early in the year. Penny is 0-7 in his last eight starts.

"I knew I probably shouldn't have went out there," Penny said. "But that would have put the team in a horrible position."

He's scheduled to fly back to Los Angeles on Sunday for a MRI on Monday.

Penny and Detroit catcher Ivan Rodriguez were teammates on the Florida Marlins' 2003 team that won the World Series. Much of the team's success was attributed to the way Rodriguez worked with the team's young pitchers, including Penny, Josh Beckett and A.J. Burnett.

"That's very hard news to be hearing," said Rodriguez when told of Penny's situation. "You wish him the best."

With Detroit down 4-1, Magglio Ordonez singled with one out in the fourth and Cabrera followed with his 10th home run into the left-field stands. Renteria singled one out later and Thames followed with his ninth homer and second in two games.

"He's done a good job. Marcus is a two-run homer, three-run homer waiting to happen," Leyland said. "He might strike out, but he might hit you a bomb, too. He's pretty good at that."

Rodriguez followed with a single and Granderson and Placido Polanco hit successive triples.

The Tigers scored three in the fifth on an error by Los Angeles shortstop Angel Berroa, a wild pitch by Scott Proctor and Rodriguez' RBI single.

The Dodgers scored three in the sixth on Ethier's two-run homer and Juan Pierre's RBI groundout.

The Dodgers had been struggling offensively.

"We finally put up some runs, but they put up more," said Los Angeles catcher Russell Martin.

Renteria singled in a run in the Detroit sixth.

Jeff Larish added a RBI single in the eighth.

Game notes
Los Angeles outfielder Matt Kemp was reinstated from a two-game suspension on Saturday. He was suspended for fighting with Colorado Rockies' catcher Yorvit Torrealba. ... Larish's double in the fifth inning broke an 0-for-12 slump.