DETROIT -- A lot of teams might be down in the dumps after suffering three-straight defeats and losing one of their best starting pitchers. The A's fired up the stereo before the game, went to work, and handled their business. They have been in this situation before. The last time the A's lost three games in a row, they also lost starting pitcher Brandon McCarthy to injury in the third game of the skid. They responded by going on a six-game winning streak. On Wednesday, they lost their third game in a row and pitcher Brett Anderson for the rest of the regular season to injury. Eerily similar. They responded in similar fashion too. Oakland's offense drove in a dozen runs to defeat the Tigers 12-4 and salvage the series. An important momentum boost before heading into New York for a series against the Yankees. "I think it's to the point where if we lose a couple games there is no panic button," Josh Donaldson said. "We're just going to go out there and play our game and most of the time we feel we are going to come out on the right side." "We're a good team and that's one of the many marks of a good team," Seth Smith said. "We are going to lose games in a row but you have to be able to stop the slide and turn things around." The A's got mauled in the first two games in Detroit. Oakland took the lead in the first inning of the first game of the series, Detroit tied it up in the bottom half of the inning, took the lead in the second, and didn't trail again until Oakland rallied for four runs in the sixth inning of Thursdays game. They added another six runs in the ninth inning. A dozen runs does a lot for the psyche. "After losing a couple in a row it was good to see," A's manager Bob Melvin said. "Once we got a couple of runs on the board the at-bats got better and the add ons were great." Smith ignited the A's offense when they needed it the most. He went 3 for 4 with four RBI, three runs, a walk, and a game-tying home run in the fifth inning. He also hit a three-run double in the ninth inning to essentially lock down the victory. "I felt alright for a little while but my results really haven't been there," Smith said. "I've been working on a few things and they paid off today." Starting pitcher Tommy Milone only lasted four and two-thirds innings against the Tigers but he limited the damage. He gave up nine hits and three walks but only allowed three earned runs. The last time Milone walked more than two batters was June 13 in Colorado. He's walked two or less batters in 25 of his 29 starts. "Not his best command today," Melvin said. "You look at his ball-to-strike ratio it's not what he normally does." Miguel Cabrera gave the A's pitching fits in this series going 5 for 11 with three homers and seven RBI. He extended his hitting streak to 10 games with a fifth inning single off Milone. He came around to score on a Prince Fielder double that gave Detroit a 3-2 lead. After allowing a single to Delmon Young, and getting Jhonny Peralto to fly out, the A's skipper removed Milone from the game with two outs in the fourth inning. "It's tough to do because I would love to be able to let him try to finish the inning," Melvin said. Melvin opted to put in Pat Neshek who recorded the final out of the inning. A tandem of five A's relievers pitched four and one-third innings of one-run ball to keep the Tigers in check. Ryan Cook struck out two hitters in one and two-third innings of work and hasn't allowed a run in 14 of his last 15 outings.The A's head to the Big Apple with their heads held high and their unitards securely fastened. After defeating the Tigers the A's rookies all donned green wrestling singlets and protective ear guards. It was quite a sight to behold. The team will enter the weekend series in New York in good spirits. Nothing seems to bring them down, even after their fair share of adversity this season. The loss of Anderson is just the latest obstacle in their efforts to make it to the postseason. "I think it's just a collective thing," Milone said. "We've had this stuff happen all year long it. We've got to pick up our ends and continue to throw well and keep our team in the game and give the offense a chance to come back and win games."
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