Tigers 7, Cardinals 6

DETROIT – Placido Polanco’s two-out double in the 10th scored Curtis Granderson from first base and lifted the Detroit Tigers to a 7-6 win over the St. Louis Cardinals.

In the ninth, Marcus Thames tied the game at 6-all with a two-run homer off Jason Isringhausen, who entered the game with a two-run lead.

Granderson led off the ninth with an infield single, and after Isringhausen struck out Polanco, Thames followed with a shot into the left-field seats that brought a roaring, sellout crowd of 42,535 to its feet.

With the fired-up fans chanting, Let’s go Tigers,’ Magglio Ordonez hit a double and advanced to third on a flyout, but Craig Monroe struck out – sending the game into extra innings.

Tyler Johnson (0-1) relieved Isringhausen with two outs, then allowed Granderson to reach on a walk. Polanco followed with a double to the right-center wall, allowing Granderson to score easily and setting off a celebration on the field – and in the stands.

Joel Zumaya (4-1) pitched the 10th to earn the win.

The Cardinals handed Isringhausen a 6-4 lead, keyed by Scott Rolen’s two RBIs on sacrifice flies, Albert Pujols’ run-scoring groundout and a slew of sick defensive plays.

St. Louis has lost five straight for the first time this season while the Tigers became the first team in baseball to reach 50 wins, with their eighth victory in nine games.

Cardinals starter Jeff Suppan gave up three runs, nine hits and three walks.

St. Louis relievers Adam Wainwright and Braden Looper combined for three solid innings before Isringhausen blew his fifth save in 29 opportunities.

Tigers ace Kenny Rogers allowed six runs, seven hits and three walks, two of which were intentional to Pujols and Rolen. Relievers Roman Colon, Jamie Walker and Jason Grilli didn’t give up a run, allowing Detroit to come back for the win.

The Tigers had several scoring opportunities before they rallied in the ninth, but St. Louis’ defense prevented them from turning hits into more runs.

In the fifth, trailing 5-3 after Pujols’ groundout led to David Eckstein’s second run, Detroit had two on and none out. The Cardinals got Suppan out of the jam with a double play – their third in three innings – leaving Tigers general manager Dave Dombrowski shaking his head from his seat near the press box.

Detroit catcher Vance Wilson, playing for the banged-up Ivan Rodriguez, hit a solo homer in the sixth off Wainwright to make it 6-4.

Pujols, in his third game since coming off the disabled list, was at the plate with the bases loaded in the eighth – with a chance to give St. Louis a six-run lead – but Jason Grilli got the slugger to end the inning.

St. Louis outfielder Juan Encarnacion had his hitting streak snapped at 14 games, which was the longest active streak in the NL.

Notes: Cardinals CF Jim Edmonds missed his third game because of a concussion and is day-to-day. … Rodriguez was held out of the lineup as a precaution because of a wrist bruise from a foul ball Friday night. … Suppan threw 55 pitches in the first two innings, and 39 over the next three. … Encarnacion, who signed as a free agent in January, has been traded three times since the Tigers sent him to Cincinnati in 2001 in a deal bringing DH Dmitri Young to Detroit.

AP-ES-06-24-06 2302EDT