Giambi, Cust homers lift A's past Tigers 5-1

Jason Giambi and Jack Cust broke out of funks with two-run homers, Dallas Braden ended a four-start winless stretch and the A's beat the Detroit Tigers 5-1 Wednesday. Giambi's drive in the sixth off Justin Verlander (8-4) was home run No. 407, tying him with Duke Snider for 43rd place. Giambi, who has been dealing with sore legs and entered the game with an American League-low .197 batting average, was in a 2-for-28 stretch before the homer after striking out in his first two at-bats. Cust struck out in the second -- his 80th strikeout of the year -- before connecting with two outs in the fourth for his team-leading 14th homer. That put Oakland ahead 2-1. He had been 4-for-24 with 13 strikeouts in his previous seven games. Gerald Laird hit an RBI double in the second for the A.L. Central-leading Tigers, who had won nine of 12. Braden (6-7) pitched seven strong innings to win for the first time in five starts since beating Baltimore on June 5. He had gone 0-2 ...