Roger's Win's His 14th as Tiger's Escape Cleveland With a Needed Victory

"I wanted to be the guy to stop it," Rogers said. "That's for sure."

Curtis Granderson led off the game with a homer and Marcus Thames, Carlos Guillen and Ivan Rodriguez later connected as the Tigers averted a four-game sweep. They won for only the sixth time in 19 games since Aug. 7 -- when they held a 10-game lead in the AL Central.

Manager Jim Leyland said that's no reason to alter his patient approach.

"I told the team what they saw today is why I haven't been ranting and raving," Leyland said. "We're not going to panic. What's been happening to us is what happens to every team in baseball. It's noticed more because we're in a pennant race. We're not going to have meetings or all this urgency. It doesn't work that way."

Cleveland had won four in a row overall and eight consecutive at home.
Detroit, with the best record in the majors, has a five-game division lead over Minnesota. After an off-day, the Tigers start a three-game series against New York at Yankee Stadium. That doesn't seem to faze Leyland, either.

"Either we're good enough or we're not," he said. "You have to keep playing. If it's good enough, we'll still be playing in October. If not, we'll go home. We'll find out."

Rogers (14-6) won his third consecutive start, yielding one run and four hits in seven innings.