AMERICAN LEAGUE Halter's walk-off home run leads Tigers past Tribe

Detroit must win seven of its last 24 games to avoid matching the 1962 Mets.
DETROIT (AP) -- Detroit Tigers first baseman Carlos Pena might not be having the offensive season he would like, but he knows he leads the team in one category.
"Check the tapes -- I'm always the first one out of the dugout after a walk-off homer," Pena said with a smile. "I don't know why those excite me so much, but they do."
Pena got a rare chance to practice that skill Wednesday when Shane Halter's leadoff homer in the 11th inning gave the Tigers a 6-5 victory over the Cleveland Indians. It was just Detroit's second game-ending homer of the year.
"Shane came through huge for us," said Pena, whose two-run homer in the eighth inning had put Detroit briefly ahead. "I don't care what our record is right now -- we are going to enjoy nights like this."
Rare win streak
The Tigers (36-102) have won two straight and need seven wins in their final 24 games to avoid matching the 1962 Mets' post-1900 record of 120 losses. Detroit improved to 6-12 against the Indians this year.
"It's all good right now," Tigers manager Alan Trammell said. "It's never easy here, but this is a big win. We've got two straight and a chance to win three out of four in this series. It's been a tough year, but games like this are a positive learning experience for these guys."
Halter's defensive mistake had led to Cleveland's tying run in the ninth, but he made up for it with a fly high off the left field foul pole on the second pitch of the 11th.
"I was at the plate thinking that, if we lost, it was going to be my fault," Halter said. "Instead, I hit a walk-off homer, which is something you dream about. I don't think I've ever hit one before, not at any level."
Missed opportunities
Halter's homer ended a game both teams felt they should have won without extra innings.
Cleveland led 4-3 in the eighth when pinch-hitter Alex Sanchez blooped a double down the left field line against Danys Baez. Dmitri Young popped out, and Pena lined his 18th homer into the right field bullpens.
Fernando Rodney couldn't hold the lead, though. Coco Crisp led off the inning with an infield single when Halter couldn't get the ball out of his glove at second base and later scored on Ben Broussard's pinch-hit single. Broussard was hitting for Baez after the Indians lost their designated hitter in the eighth inning when they moved Jody Gerut to left field.
Cleveland's C.C. Sabathia allowed three runs and five hits in six innings, matching his season high with nine strikeouts. Six of his strikeouts came between the third and fifth innings.
Sabathia had a 4-1 lead going into the bottom of the fifth, but gave up single runs in the next two innings.