Swisher Saves The Day For A's

OAKLAND -- Nick Swisher hit a tiebreaking solo homer in the seventh for his second drive of the game, leading the Oakland Athletics to a 4-3 win over the Detroit Tigers on Tuesday night.

Swisher also had a two-run homer in the second inning, the second time this season he's hit two in a game and the fourth in his career. Swisher has six homers, tying him with Eric Chavez for the team lead.

Justin Duchscherer (1-0) pitched two innings for the victory, helping the A's win for only the second time in their last seven games. Huston Street pitched a perfect ninth for his fourth save in five chances, bouncing back from Sunday's loss in which his consecutive saves streak ended at 21 games.

The Tigers began a nine-game road trip against the AL West -- three each at Oakland, Seattle and Los Angeles -- with another frustrating loss a day after manager Jim Leyland launched a postgame tirade following a 10-2 home loss to the Cleveland Indians.

He said Tuesday the outburst would be left in the past.

"Everything hasn't been hunkey dorey," said Leyland, who replaced the fired Alan Trammell after last season. "It hasn't been good enough, or I wouldn't be here. ... It wasn't Alan Trammell's fault."

Leyland didn't like what he saw in the fourth, when shortstop Carlos Guillen committed two throwing errors leading to an unearned run. Frank Thomas singled to start the inning, then advanced on Guillen's first mistake. Thomas scored three batters later on Guillen's wild throw toward first while trying to turn a double play.

Ivan Rodriguez hit a two-out RBI double in the sixth, then Magglio Ordonez tied the game with a bloop single to shallow right that scored Rodriguez moments later for a Detroit team that won its first five games but has since lost seven of its last nine.

Mark Ellis returned to the A's lineup after getting the previous three games off to work on his swing and ended an 0-for-15 slump with a double leading off the third. He followed with a fifth-inning single after entering the game batting .167 with two RBIs.

Curtis Granderson started the game with a triple off the left-field wall that Jay Payton got a glove on but couldn't handle. Placido Polanco followed with an RBI single to center.

A's starter Esteban Loaiza didn't allow another hit until Chris Shelton's infield single to start the fifth, retiring 11 of 12 during that span.

Swisher hit both homers against Justin Verlander (1-2), who struck out seven and walked three in seven innings. The rookie right-hander, making his first career appearance against the A's, threw 121 pitches.