Sitting on the bench while the Reds tried to close out a benchmark win, Bobby Higginson sensed that a rare, last-inning comeback by the Detroit Tigers was about to unfold. He was right.

        Higginson hit a three-run homer with two outs in the ninth inning, and Robert Fick followed with a solo shot for an 8-5 victory Sunday.

        “I felt confident today,” he said. “I said on the bench I just had a feeling we were going to come back. It's hard to describe. I could just feel it.”

        Chris Nichting (0-3) gave up an RBI single to Roger Cedeno that made it a one-run game and put two runners aboard. Higginson came up with two outs and an idea of what to look for — a fastball.

        “I love being up in that situation,” he said. “Since we had sent six batters up, I had a good idea what I was going to see there. He had pretty much a straight fastball and an overhead curve, and he had trouble controlling the curve.”

        He hit a 2-1 fastball for his 11th homer. Willie Blair (1-4) pitched two scoreless innings, and Matt Anderson got three outs for his 10th save in 11 chances.

        Tigers Notes: It was Fick's first two-homer game. He has 16 this season. ... In his last two starts totaling 8 1-3 innings, Holt has given up 11 runs, 17 hits and five walks. ... Holt doubled for the first hit of the season by a Tigers pitcher. They're 1-for-15 with seven strikeouts in interleague play after going 1-for-19 last season.

Tigers 8, Reds 5 Bowden says Rijo not ready for Reds Casey should miss only a few days 2 1/2 months since last home save Higginson anticipated Tigers' comeback Reds box, runs

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