DETROIT _ Miguel Cabrera again rose to the occasion, this time it was Wednesday night in the pouring rain. With two runners on base in a 3-3 tie in the fifth inning, Cabrera homered to right field to give the Detroit Tigers a 6-3 lead over the Cleveland Indians.
Play was suspended after the inning and called over an hour later, at 11:10 p.m., as an official game, giving the Tigers a crucial 6-3, five-inning win.
With days dwindling off the schedule, and with the Baltimore Orioles rallying in the ninth inning to beat the Toronto Blue Jays, the Tigers were afforded a grand opportunity to stay one game back of the O's for the second wild-card spot.
At 8:11 p.m. local time Wednesday night, the much-anticipated rains came.
At that moment, it seemed unlikely Tigers right-hander Michael Fulmer would pitch the necessary 6 1/3 innings against the Cleveland Indians to qualify for the American League ERA title. But Fulmer had a bigger task at hand: getting a win.
They had Fulmer on the mound. Third baseman Nick Castellanos back in the starting lineup. And for the second consecutive night, they were facing a team starting a mediocre pitcher with a bullpen game in mind.
At 8:55 p.m., play resumed. At 8:58, after James McCann and Jose Iglesias doubled, the Tigers tied the game. At 8:59, they took the lead on Ian Kinsler's home run.
Fulmer's chance at history _ he was trying to be the first rookie to win the ERA title since Mark Fidrych in 1971 _ took a bigger hit when he came back to the mound after 55 minutes and coughed up the lead, allowing two singles. Left-hander Blaine Hardy relieved him after a rain-interrupted 77 pitches. Carlos Santana's single tied the game in the fourth inning.
But in the bottom of the fifth inning, just as Mother Nature started dumping more rain, Cabrera crushed the first pitch he saw to right.
Cabrera's home run came at the most opportune of times, as half of his home runs have this season. Of his 36 home runs, 18 have tied the game or given the Tigers the lead. 15 of those have gone out to the opposite field, leading the major leagues.
On the home run, Cabrera's 306th as a Tiger, he tied Hank Greenberg for third-most in franchise history.
Fulmer fell into a tie with Toronto righty Aaron Sanchez with a 3.06 ERA. He is still three innings shy of qualifying for the title, throwing 3 1/3 innings. He allowed three runs on six hits, walking three and striking out three.
Manager Brad Ausmus said before the game it was possible Fulmer could be used out of relief over the season's final weekend depending on if the rain took him out of play short enough, but after 77 pitches, that seems unlikely. A more likely ERA title contender is teammate Justin Verlander, who has a 3.10 ERA and is scheduled to pitch on Sunday against the Braves. He stands third, behind Sanchez and New York's Masahiro Tanaka (3.07).
