In The Box

May 5, 2000 Tigers 10, Twins 8

NOTE TO Minnesota catcher Matt LeCroy: Set up farther back from the batter. With the Twins leading 7-4 and runners on first and second in the top of the seventh, Detroit's Bobby Higginson hit a line drive to first baseman Ron Coomer for what appeared to be the first out of the inning. However, home plate umpire Ron Kulpa ruled that Higginson's swing had nicked LeCroy's glove and awarded Higginson first base. If not for the catcher's-interference call, Hector Carrasco, who got the next two hitters out, might well have escaped the inning unscathed. Instead four Tigers reached base with two out and Detroit scored five runs and won.

It was the second straight game in which the rookie LeCroy's intrusiveness sparked a Tigers rally. Last Thursday a catcher's-interference call sent Detroit's Wendell Magee to first with two outs in the sixth; Detroit scored three unearned runs that inning and won 8-6.