Tigers 10, White Sox 8 Snap Reaction: Raburn awakens right on time (whew!)

Snap Reaction: The timing of Ryan Raburn's first home run was probably a coincidence, but it couldn't have come at a better time for the Tigers. (Or, let's be honest here, me.)

Detroit was trailing by six runs and looking pitiful in doing so. Raburn hadn't done a lot his first two at bats. I was already thinking of hiding on a small island somewhere writing about how the first inning was a good foreshadowing of the game to come. The Tigers had two hits and a walk in the opening frame but had nothing to show for it after Miguel Cabrera was thrown out at home.

Skip to the sixth inning. Jake Peavy was throwing a great game when all of a sudden Cabrera hits a two-run shot. Nice. Then Alex Avila and Brennan Boesch get on base with Raburn coming to the plate. Big moment here. Raburn powered the ball over the left-centerfield wall for a three-run shot. Suddenly it's a one-run game.

But Detroit wasn't finished. Delmon Young and Jhonny Peralta both reached safely for Austin Jackson, who matched Raburn's center field shot. 8-6 Tigers. Detroit added another pair of runs in the seventh inning for the 10-6 lead.

Comfortable, right? Not really. Jose Valverde gave up a pair of baserunners in the ninth inning, but left the game with an injury of some sort with an out remaining. Octavio Dotel allowed a pair of Valverde's runs to score before recording the save on a long fly ball to right field.

Raburn finished with two hits and four RBI. Prince Fielder had another three-hit day. Cabrera and Jackson each added two.

Tigers starter Max Scherzer definitely didn't have his best game, going 4+ innings, allowing five runs on eight hits and three walks. Back to the drawing board on Scherzer, apparently. Collin Balester, Phil Coke and Joaquin Benoit bridged the gap to the ninth inning without allowing any runs of their own.