DETROIT -- The deciding run reached on a 383-foot triple to the depths of Comerica Park. It scored on a 60-foot bunt down the first-base line, laid down by a backup catcher, that sent the first baseman and pitcher colliding to field it.
That was Gardy Ball, the kind of play Detroit manager Ron Gardenhire used with the Twins to torment teams like the Tigers. On Wednesday, it worked in Detroit's favor, a walk-off squeeze bunt in the 12th inning to send the Tigers to a 3-2 win over the previously red-hot Rays at Comerica Park. Only it wasn't Gardenhire's call to put down a bunt.