Tigers win, but postseason hopes are crushed <h3>DETROIT 9, MINNESOTA 4 (SIX INNINGS)</h3>DETROIT (Ticker) -- The Detroit Tigers didn't let a little rainstop them from beating up on the Minnesota Twins, but 1,200miles away their postseason hopes were dying. The Detroit Tigers pounded out nine hits in five turns at bat,earning a 9-4 victory over the Minnesota Twins before the gamewas called after six innings due to torrential rains onWednesday. The rain at Comerica Park served as a metaphor for Detroit'sseason, as the New York Yankees (91-67) earned a 12-4 victoryover the Tampa Bay Devil Rays to knock the defending AmericanLeague champions out of postseason contention. "We won and that's the important thing," Tigers manager JimLeyland said. "We're 15 games over and that's not bad. Now wego to Chicago and try to win the rest. "It was a good year for us." The Tigers (87-72) fell behind, 4-0, in the first inning, butjumped on Twins ace Johan Santana in the second frame, cuttingthe deficit to 4-3 on a bases-loaded walk and Mike Rabelo'stwo-run double. "You don't want to finish this way," Santana said. "But youcan't control Mother Nature. I felt pretty good, but I made acouple mistakes and then the rain changed everything. "Hopefully, this season will teach all of us a lot. We need tolearn from this experience and be more consistent as players.We will start over in 2008." The first rain delay of the night came in the third inning andtotaled one hour, 18 minutes. The wait was too long for Santana, who yielded to rookierighthander Nick Blackburn after the delay. The three-inningstint snapped the two-time Cy Young Award winner's string of 123straight starts of pitching five innings or more. "It (the streak) had to end sooner or later," Santana said."But this isn't the way you would want. You just can't controlthe weather." Detroit wasted little time jumping on Blackburn (0-1), poundingthe 25-year-old for six runs in the fourth. Mike Hessman led off the frame with a solo blast - his fourth ofthe season. Rabelo and Placido Polanco followed withback-to-back singles before Ryan Raburn gave the Tigers a 6-4lead with a two-run triple. "I was going to pinch-hit for Hessman," Leyland said. "Showsyou what I know. I had a gut feeling and kept him in there andhe a couple of big hits for us." Gary Sheffield added an RBIsingle and came around to score on a throwing error beforeHessman completed the scoring with an RBI single to right. "I had a great time this year," Sheffield said. "This was agreat bunch of guys to be around. When healthy, this is thebest team in baseball." Tim Byrdak (3-0) got the win in reliefof Detroit starter Jair Jurrjens, who allowed four runs in threeframes. "I was just over throwing in the first," Jurrjens said. "I gotmy composure back and settled down before the rain came." The game was called after a 30-minute rain delay following thetop of the fifth inning. The Tigers looked like a lock for the playoffs through the first3 1/2 months of the season, but a 14-27 stretch from July24-September 4 proved to be too big a hole to overcome. "We're not happy about not making the playoffs," Tigers thirdbaseman Brandon Inge said. "We played hard all season, wedidn't leave a thing on the field."
