Cards lose rain-delayed game on walkoff single

DETROIT -- Gary Sheffield's RBI single in the bottom of the ninth gave the Detroit Tigers an 8-7 win over the St. Louis Cardinals on Wednesday night in a game that included a nearly 2 1/2-hour rain delay.

Sheffield, who came off the disabled list Tuesday, and Carlos Guillen each had four hits for Detroit.

Rick Ankiel hit two homers and drove in three runs, and Skip Schumaker also homered for St. Louis.

Clete Thomas led off the ninth with a double off the left-field wall. Sheffield then lined Kyle McClellan's 3-2 pitch into right-center to score Thomas.

"It was a long night. We knew this team was going to be tough," Sheffield said. "We knew we had to keep plugging away and give ourselves a chance in the ninth inning and we did that."

He hit a pitch toward the outside of the plate.

"With him, you don't want to miss inside. So I figured I'd go outside," McClellan said. "It was the wrong pitch."

Todd Jones (3-0) pitched a perfect ninth for the win. McClelland (0-3) took the loss.

Tigers starter Armando Galarraga allowed five runs and eight hits in 4 2/3 innings and the Cardinals' Kyle Lohse gave up five runs and 11 hits in four innings.

Aaron Miles' two-out RBI single gave St. Louis a 7-6 lead in the top of the eighth, but Magglio Ordonez's two-out, run-scoring single in the bottom of the inning tied it for Detroit.

The game was delayed by rain for two hours and 25 minutes in the top of the fifth inning and didn't end until 11:51 p.m.