Figaro tops Brewers in major-league debut

DETROIT (AP) — Miguel Cabrera and Placido Polanco homered and Alfredo Figaro won his major-league debut as the Detroit Tigers beat the Milwaukee Brewers 9-5 on Saturday.

Figaro, who was called up from Double-A to replace Dontrelle Willis in the rotation, allowed two runs and eight hits in five innings.

Dave Bush (3-4) took the loss, falling to 0-4 in his last six starts. He gave up five runs on seven hits in three innings.

Milwaukee went ahead 1-0 on Craig Counsell's second-inning RBI single, but the Tigers responded with three in the bottom of the inning on a two-run single by Josh Anderson and an RBI triple by Gerald Laird.

Ryan Braun pulled the Brewers within a run with a leadoff homer in the third, but Cabrera's two-run shot made it 5-2 in the bottom of the inning.

The Tigers added two more in the fifth on Polanco's third homer and Brandon Inge's sacrifice fly, and made it 9-2 with another pair of runs in the sixth.

Milwaukee scored twice in the seventh and once in the eighth, but Detroit's bullpen held on.

Polanco left the game in the eighth with stiffness in his left leg — he was hit by a pitch two innings earlier. The team said the move was only precautionary.

Notes: To make room for Figaro, the Tigers designated the contract of C Dane Sardinha for assignment. Sardinha hit .097 in 12 games. ... Tigers manager Jim Leyland said that RF Magglio Ordonez could return to the lineup as soon as Tuesday's series opener with the Cubs. Leyland also repeated that the benching — Ordonez hasn't played since June 17 — is not related to the contract extension that kicks in if Ordonez gets 215 more plate appearances this season. ... CF Mike Cameron served his one-game suspension stemming from a June 6 ejection in Atlanta.



by the associated press