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DETROIT -- Jim Leyland is usually pretty confident about his managerial moves. Thursday, though, he wasnt entirely sure if he had done something smart or stupid. With the game tied in the eighth, Omar Infante started the inning with a single, and Leyland decided to have Torii Hunter bunt him to second. That put the go-ahead run in scoring position, but meant taking the bat out of the hands of Miguel Cabrera, baseballs hottest hitter. "That was a tough call," Leyland acknowledged after the game. "Thats definitely a move that the fans are going to discuss, and I dont have any problem with that. I wasnt sure, either." Sure enough, Minnesota manager Ron Gardenhire immediately signalled for the intentional walk. The reason Leyland took the chance? Prince Fielder was coming up next, and facing right-hander Jared Burton. "If they had a tough lefty to pitch to Prince -- maybe Glen Perkins if it had been the ninth inning -- I might not have bunted," Leyland said. "Prince has 40 RBIs hitting behind Miguel Cabrera, so I was willing to roll the dice with him." The plan worked, but only barely. Fielder hit what looked like a possible double-play grounder, but it deflected off Burtons glove and past second baseman Brian Dozier. Infante scored easily, and the Tigers held on to win 7-6. "You hate walking anyone to pitch to Prince Fielder, I can tell you that right now," Gardenhire said. "But youve got to take your choice, and the way Cabrera is swinging the bat, youve got to do it. We got the groundball. It just didnt work out." Before the intentional walk, Cabrera had driven in three runs, including his sixth homer in four games. Hes matched a career high by homering in four straight games. He has also walked five times in the four games, and Fielder has followed all five with hits, driving in seven more runs. In the four games, the pair have combined to drive in 20 runs. "Its absolutely incredible what they are doing," Tigers starter Rick Porcello said. "If I were pitching against them, Id just walk both of them every time they came up." Joaquin Benoit (1-0) picked up the win with a perfect inning of relief, while Jose Valverde pitched the ninth for his fifth save. The Tigers trailed 6-3 going into the bottom of the seventh, but scored three times off three Minnesota pitchers. Infante singled and Cabrera walked with one out, bringing Brian Duensing into the game. He allowed RBI singles to Prince Fielder and Victor Martinez before giving way to Burton. Jhonny Peralta greeted Burton (0-2) with a game-tying double, and Matt Tuiasosopo was hit by a pitch to load the bases before Brayan Pena and Andy Dirks popped out to end the inning. "We gave the game over to our bullpen, and they usually do the job," Gardenhire said. "Just didnt happen today." The Tigers had taken a 2-0 lead in the first when Cabrera lifted a 2-2 pitch into the bullpens beyond the left-field fence. It was the first of his six homers in four games that he had pulled -- the others had all been to centre field or right-centre. Porcello almost got a second straight inning-ending double play in the second, but Jhonny Peralta juggled Doziers grounder and Dozier beat the relay throw to allow Justin Morneau to score. Minnesota started the third with three straight singles, tying the game, and Josh Willingham made it 5-2 by pulling Porcellos pitch deep into the left-field stands. Scott Diamond retired 10 straight batters after Tuiasosopos second-inning single, but Detroit loaded the bases with two out in the fifth on two singles and a walk. Cabrera bounced an infield single up the middle, making it 5-3, but Diamond got Fielder to pop out and end the inning. Detroit threatened again in the sixth, putting runners on second and third with two out, but Fien came on to strike out pinch-hitter Andy Dirks. Willingham then moved the lead to three runs with a solo homer off Darin Downs in the seventh. "Thats a tough loss," Willingham said. "I felt good at the plate, and I was able to get the pitchers to elevate the ball. Thats the key to doing what I do." NOTES: The start of the game was delayed for an hour by rain. ... Twins shortstop Pedro Florimon left the game after the top of the third with an sprained right index finger. Florimon appeared to sustain the injury while sliding head-first into third base. Gardenhire said after the game that Florimon is day-to-day. ... The fans broke into a chant of "Lets Go Red Wings" in the top of the fifth inning as news spread that Detroit had taken a 1-0 lead over the Blackhawks in the second period of the playoff game. The hockey game was played at Joe Louis Arena, about five minutes from Comerica Park. ... Cabrera also homered in four straight games with the Marlins in April 2004. Wholesale Jerseys Australia . There are surprises among the Vezina candidates, but most of the others are standard top-tier performers, even if the two Hart Trophy runners-ups have never been quite as good as they have been through the first half of the season. Stitched Jerseys Australia . Dallas hasnt ruled out the star quarterback for Sunday nights game against Philadelphia, but all signs point to Romos back injury pushing Kyle Orton into the starting role after two years of limited play as the backup. Surely Ortons name isnt the first that comes to mind for fans wanting a change after years of damaging interceptions, fumbles or, most infamously, the field goal flub when Romo dropped the snap on a kick that could have won his first playoff game in 2006. http://www.cheapjerseysaustralia.com/ . -- New England Revolution goalkeeper Matt Reis is retiring after a 16-year career to become the goalie coach for the Los Angeles Galaxy. Cheap Authentic Jerseys . JOHNS, N. China Jerseys . A knee to the thigh might have stung him the most, but his sixth straight double-double made up for the brief burst of pain. SALT LAKE CITY -- The Utah Jazz were embarrassed in a 14-point loss to the Denver Nuggets on Sunday, but exacted a little revenge Wednesday with the return of their starting point guard.George Hill scored 22 points in his return from an eight-game absence and the Jazz snapped a four-game losing streak with their 108-83 victory.Hill had tape and a protective pad covering the strained thumb on his shooting hand and the nine-year veteran showed no signs of rust.Felt pretty good, Hill said. Any time you can get back there and help the guys try to win a game is fine.My team did a great job of helping me get some easy ones where Im just catching and shooting and playing my game.Rudy Gobert posted his eighth double-double of the season with 19 points and 13 rebounds, while Gordon Hayward added 22 points and seven assists.Rookie Jamal Murray led the Nuggets with 23 points off the bench. Kenneth Faried finished with eight points and 10 rebounds.Obviously having George back makes a difference, Jazz coach Quin Snyder said. Its hard not to improve on the effort we had the other night. (The Nuggets) got free throws, offensive rebounds and points in the paint, numbers that would have led the league in all categories.We were better. Weve got a long way to go. You can see that with the inconsistency we had in the first half.The Jazz put away the game with a 17-3 run to start the third quarter to take a 70-50 lead, punctuated by Hills 3-pointer from the right corner. Utah shot 49.4 percent and the Nuggets struggled to just 31.5 percent.Utah led just 53-47 at halftime after jumping out to a 19-3 lead to open the game. The Jazz started 6 of 8 on 3-pointers but then missed their next 10.The Nuggets, a night after beating Chicago at home, climbed back into the game with a heavy dose of Faried and a 16-2 stretch to tie the game at 45.Most young teams forget why you have success, Nuggets coach Mike Malone said. They get bored with success. We were winning basketball games because of how we played. Tonight, even though we are banged up, three gammes in four nights -- all excuses.dddddddddddd We just didnt bring it.TIP-INSNuggets: Danilo Gallinari missed his first game of the season with right knee soreness. ... Mike Miller missed his fourth consecutive game due to personal reasons.Jazz: Joe Johnson played despite dealing with an illness. ... Boris Diaw had his best game as a Jazz player with 11 points, three rebounds and three assists.BACK ON THE COURTHill averaged 20.4 points and 4.9 assists in the first seven games of the season and fit in with the Jazz immediately. The team is 3-5 without him.He and I know and knew each other pretty well, Snyder said. So some of the conversation that we had, Id like to think framed what the fit would be and I think thats something he was truly excited about. When you have that fit, it generally has a way of accelerating a players comfort level.CUT ITMalone explained how his offense emphasizes back-cuts, especially against teams like the Jazz.We have guys that are willing and capable playmakers, Malone said. ... Its something we really emphasize, whether its practice, shootaround, film sessions. The Utah Jazz shrink the floor. They collapse. When they do, sometimes they get caught ball-watching.So any time your man turns the head, you should be cutting to the basket. And if you dont get it, youre probably generating a wide open shot for a teammate behind you.QUOTABLEIt was huge, a lot of guys were tired and banged up from all those games, Faried said. Banged up from last nights game, it was a grind-it-out game. We were able to pull through, but a lot of knick-knack injuries that carried over to today and guys werent able to hit the shots that they usually are.UP NEXTNuggets: Denver hosts Russell Westbrook and the Oklahoma City Thunder on Friday. It will be the first meeting between the teams this season.Jazz: Utah hosts the Hawks on Friday, facing Dwight Howard in an Atlanta jersey for the first time. ' ' '