OAKLAND, Calif. – Rondell White hit a tiebreaking homer in the sixth inning, Craig Monroe connected two batters later and the Detroit Tigers beat the Oakland Athletics 5-3.

Mike Maroth (9-7) pitched seven solid innings to win his fourth straight decision.

Monroe finished with three RBIs, adding a run-scoring double in the fourth that tied the game at 2 and an eighth-inning single to score Dmitri Young.

The Tigers took two of three from the AL West-leading A’s, snapping a three-game losing streak with Wednesday’s 11-3 rout and playing another smart game in the series finale.

Oakland’s Mark Kotsay hit a leadoff homer and had three hits, but Oakland couldn’t manage much else against Maroth.

Justin Duchscherer (4-4) relieved starter Tim Hudson to start the sixth and got into trouble fast. After Young popped out, White connected for his 17th home run to give Detroit a 3-2 lead, hitting the first pitch he saw over the wall in left-center for his second shot in two days.

Carlos Pena followed White with a hard-hit ball to right field that Jermaine Dye jumped to catch against the wall, then Monroe hit his sixth homer.

Maroth gave up two runs and eight hits, struck out three and didn’t walk a batter. Ugueth Urbina gave up a solo homer to Damian Miller in the ninth, then finished for his 19th save in 21 opportunities.

Kotsay hit an 0-1 pitch from Maroth over the wall in right-center for his 10th homer in the first inning.

The Tigers tied it at 1 in the third on Omar Infante’s RBI single, which extended his season-high hitting streak to 11 games.

Hudson retired six of his first seven batters, including two straight strikeouts, before Eric Munson doubled leading off the third.

Detroit went up 2-1 in the fourth on Monroe’s two-out double, then Oakland tied it in the bottom half with three straight hits against Maroth, including Dye’s single to score Eric Byrnes.

Hudson made his second start since returning from the disabled list after missing more than a month with a strained stomach muscle. He pitched well, but left after five innings with the game tied at 2.

He allowed two runs and six hits, struck out six and walked one. The A’s are being cautious with Hudson, and he threw only 90 pitches after making 79 in his first start back last Saturday at Minnesota.

Hudson hasn’t won since beating the Pirates 6-1 on June 11, a span of four starts. He was the losing pitcher in Oakland’s 4-3 loss to the Twins last Saturday.

Carlos Guillen, a career .353 hitter (12-for-34) against Hudson coming into the game, went 0-for-4 with a strikeout – three of those outs against Hudson.

The A’s won the season series 5-4 and are 4-3 during a 10-game stretch against the AL Central. Kansas City comes to town next for a three-game weekend series.

Notes: It was Kotsay’s fifth career leadoff homer and second this year. He also did it July 21 at Seattle. … Tigers C Ivan Rodriguez got the day off. … The Tigers expect to activate RHP Gary Knotts on Friday. Knotts has been out since July 28 with a sore throwing shoulder. … Hudson is 9-2 in 14 career starts against the Tigers. The only AL teams Hudson has defeated more are Anaheim (13) and Seattle (11). … Duchscherer held opponents without a run in five of his previous six appearances.

AP-ES-08-12-04 1818EDT