DETROIT _ The Detroit Tigers were down.
They fell behind early in their return to Comerica Park Tuesday, as Buck Farmer was chased by the Diamondbacks after hit after hit, and seemed to have nothing going against ace righty Zack Greinke.
Through five innings, all they could muster was two hits.
But they were not down for the count. What began with a throwing error on an easy-out play in the bottom of the sixth inning ended with a six-run inning as they climbed their way out of a big deficit and charged up the home fans.
It wasn't meant to be, though.
After a strong bullpen effort _ throwing 52/3 scoreless innings _ David Peralta greeted closer Justin Wilson with a lefty-on-lefty solo home run in the top of the ninth inning to beat the Tigers, 7-6.
The game seemed a foregone conclusion until the sixth inning, when the Tigers flipped the script.
In that inning, Ian Kinsler singled with one out. Then, on a slow roller by Alex Avila to second base, shortstop Chris Owings _ shifting Avila towards right field _ spun and tried for a double play. The ball got past third baseman Jake Lamb, who was covering second base and without a player in the vicinity, Kinsler scored.
Then Miguel Cabrera doubled to right-center field, punctuated by right fielder David Peralta misplaying the ball. It was RBI No. 1,582 for Cabrera, tying him with Al Kaline for 41st place in Major League Baseball history, according to Baseball-Reference.com.
Greinke struggled to right the ship.
After Victor Martinez struck out swinging, J.D. Martinez hit his 11th home run of the season, a two-run shot, to pull the Tigers within two runs.
They weren't finished.
Justin Upton walked, chasing Greinke, and then three straight singles from Nick Castellanos, Alex Presley and Jose Iglesias tied the game.
Alex Wilson's struggles continued in the eighth inning, loading the bases with nobody out but danced out of damage thanks to a first base-to-catcher-to-first base double play.
Farmer's 13-inning scoreless streak was snapped in the first when he allowed two runs on five singles. The Diamondbacks added four more in the third inning, two on a monster home run by Paul Goldschmidt.
He was pulled shortly thereafter and relieved by Chad Bell, who played the unsung hero, throwing 32/3 scoreless innings on four hits.
Bell exited after allowing a double to open the seventh inning. Francisco Rodriguez retired three batters in a row.
Former Tiger Fernando Rodney picked up the save in the ninth inning.
With the loss, the Tigers fall to 30-33. They are 10-8 in one-run games.
