PITTSBURGH (AP) – Chris Shelton hit one of Detroit’s two tape-measure home runs against the team that gave him away and the Tigers bounced back from one of their few ugly losses this season, holding on to beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 9-8 Sunday.

Shelton, Carlos Guillen and Craig Monroe drove in two runs each to help the Tigers open a 9-2 lead and take two of three from Pittsburgh, their seventh consecutive series win. They were coming off a 9-2 loss Saturday in which they committed errors on three consecutive infield plays during a seven-run Pirates seventh.

The seventh inning was wilder still in this game, with the Tigers scoring five runs against Pittsburgh’s usually reliable bullpen before the Pirates came back with six runs to get within a run.

Joel Zumaya settled the Tigers down after that with a scoreless eighth, and Todd Jones finished up by pitching the ninth for his 22nd save in 25 opportunities. Pittsburgh loaded the bases with one out on Jason Bay’s double and two walks, but Jose Castillo struck out and Humberto Cota grounded out on a ball that deflected off Jones’ glove directly to second baseman Placido Polanco.

Monroe’s two-run double against Jonah Bayliss keyed the Tigers’ seventh, which marked the only time in the series the Tigers scored past the fifth inning. Pinch-hitter Omar Infante started the seventh with the first of three Detroit doubles in the inning and Vance Wilson added an RBI double three batters later against reliever John Grabow.

Despite being down 9-2, the Pirates quickly cut it to 9-8 and had runners on third and first before Castillo hit into an inning-ending double play. Before that, the Pirates turned a hit batter, two singles, a walk, reliever Fernando Rodney’s run-scoring wild pitch and shortstop Guillen’s error on a Sean Casey grounder into three runs ahead of Freddy Sanchez’s second two-run double in as many innings. Pinch-hitter Ronny Paulino followed with a run-scoring single.

Despite their second seventh-inning letdown in as many games, the Tigers quickly proved there would be no carryover effect from Saturday’s loss by jumping on Pirates starter Ian Snell (7-6) for three runs in the first. Guillen’s two-run homer over the right field stands followed Magglio Ordonez’s run-scoring double.

Guillen’s drive, his 10th, was estimated at 449 feet, but was topped when Shelton led off the second with a 459-foot shot off the center field batter’s backdrop. Shelton’s homer was his 16th and second of the series against the team that failed to protect him for the Rule 5 draft at the 2003 winter meetings. Shelton had five hits and four RBIs in the series.

The final score didn’t indicate how well Tigers rookie starter Zach Miner (5-1) pitched in winning his fifth in a row. He retired the first 11 batters and didn’t give up a hit until Sanchez singled leading off the fifth. Sanchez’s 13-game hitting streak ended Saturday, but he came back with three hits Sunday to jump his average to .363.

Miner lasted 5 2-3 innings, giving up two runs and six hits. Snell, losing his third in a row after winning five straight by allowing four runs and seven hits in five innings.

The Tigers finished 15-3 against the NL, easily their best record since interleague play began in 1997. The Pirates went 3-12 against the AL after going 5-7 last year.

Notes: The Pirates’ Jose Hernandez, making a spot start at shortstop, left after four innings with tightness in his lower back. … The Pirates lost for the 15th time in 17 games. The Tigers won their 14th in 16. Their starting pitchers are 16-2 over the last month. … The Pirates are 8-24 in one-run games.

AP-ES-07-02-06 1659EDT