Granderson’s HR triggers Tribe loss

DETROIT (AP) — The Detroit Tigers were on the verge of another frustrating early season loss when Curtis Granderson and the struggling Cleveland Indians bullpen saved them.

Granderson hit a two-run homer in Detroit’s three-run eighth inning and the Tigers beat the Indians 9-7 on Saturday.

Detroit blew a 5-0 lead and trailed 7-6 before its big inning against Rafael Betancourt (0-1), rallying to end an eight-game losing streak to Cleveland.

“That could have been a disaster,” said Tigers manager Jim Leyland, whose team had lost three straight overall. “In the end, it turned out pretty well.”

Pinch-hitter Josh Anderson led off the eighth with a single and Granderson followed with his eighth homer. Carlos Guillen tacked on a sacrifice fly later in the inning.

“We came in with a three-game skid, and it looked like we might make it four,” Granderson said. “Now we’ve got a chance to win this series, and that’s going to be big in this division.”

Betancourt got the final two outs of the seventh, but couldn’t get through the next inning.

“That’s been a struggle for us,” manager Eric Wedge said. “I still have a lot of confidence in Rafael Betancourt, and I expect him to do the job the next time, but we need someone else to step up and help do the job in the seventh and eighth innings to get the ball to Kerry [Wood].”

Joel Zumaya (1-0) picked up the win with 12‚Ñ3 shutout innings of relief, and Fernando Rodney finished for his fifth save. Cleveland had runners on the corners with one out in the ninth, but Rodney struck out Mark DeRosa and Jhonny Peralta to end the game.

“Our bullpen is finally healthy, and we’ve got some great arms out there,” Zumaya said. “That’s going to help us win games like this.”

Adam Everett hit his second career grand slam in the fourth for the Tigers.

Both starters struggled but ended up with no-decisions. Cleveland’s Aaron Laffey allowed five runs — as many as in his previous three starts combined — and six hits with five walks in just 31‚Ñ3 innings.

“Aaron was just inconsistent today — one good inning and one bad one,” Wedge said. “Unfortunately, we had to go to our bullpen early, and that made it tougher to get to the end.”

Detroit’s Zach Miner gave up five runs in five innings.

Detroit took the lead on Ryan Raburn’s bases-loaded walk in the fourth, and Everett followed with a liner just inside the left-field foul pole for his first homer with the Tigers.

Miner almost got out of his own bases-loaded jam in the fifth, but Raburn slipped and fell while chasing Asdrubal Cabrera’s fly to deep left. Raburn got up and nearly made a running catch, but the ball hit off his glove for a three-run double.