Fister Lifts Depleted Tigers

The Tigers won the game -- and the gamble.

Jim Leyland fielded a lineup missing his usual second-, fourth- and sixth-place hitters yet got a sterling pitching performance and just enough runs to register a 2-0 win at Tampa Bay that gave Detroit three wins out of a four-game series.

"We got just enough to win three games, which was huge," Leyland said. "This could have been an 0-4 trip, that's how good that pitching staff is."

Detroit's No. 2 hitter, Brennan Boesch, was out of the lineup with an aggravation of his right thumb injury and it may land him on the disabled list.

Cleanup hitter Miguel Cabrera was home attending the birth of his first son and third child. He returns to Detroit for the start of a weekend series in Minnesota on Friday.

And the new No. 6 hitter, Alex Avila, was granted a day off after catching 18 straight games since a left knee sprain Aug. 6 has kept DH Victor Martinez from getting behind the plate.

Leyland didn't want to, and couldn't as it turned out, shoehorn Avila into his lineup in an effort to compensate for the absence of Cabrera. The team's medical staff advised the manager it wasn't a good idea to try to put Martinez at first so he could DH Avila, the league's hottest August hitter.

"It was a little bit different lineup without Miggy (Cabrera) and Alex," Leyland said. "We knew we weren't going to get a lot of runs. (Doug) Fister was tremendous. He just pitched a great game."

Fister pitched walk-free shutout ball for seven innings, Joaquin Benoit worked a scoreless eighth and Jose Valverde recorded his 38th save -- with the help of a liner to right that turned into a game-ending double play at first, thanks to a hit-and-run or steal that backfired.

Avila returns to the lineup Friday, Santos returns to Toledo and Cabrera comes back to hit fourth again.

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