Trey Sweeney homered as part of the first four-hit game of his career, Parker Meadows ignited a six-run eighth inning with a two-run double and the Detroit Tigers won a second straight over the host Oakland Athletics 9-1 on Sunday afternoon.Ty Madden pitched effectively in a bulk-innings reliever role for his first major league win, helping the Tigers (73-71) pass the Boston Red Sox (72-71), keep pace with the Seattle Mariners (73-71) and pick up a game on the Minnesota Twins (76-67) in the American League wild-card race.Having completed a 3-3 California swing, the Tigers will now embark on a six-game homestand against the Colorado Rockies and Baltimore Orioles just 3 1/2 games out of the final playoff spot, currently held by the Twins.Sweeney, a rookie who had a total of just nine hits in his first 18 big-league games, opened the Detroit scoring with a solo home run, his third, leading off the third inning.He later singled in a run in the fourth to make it 3-0, walked in the sixth, singled, stole a base and scored in the six-run eighth and made it a four-hit day with an infield single in the ninth.The Tigers led just 3-1 entering the eighth, but singles by Spencer Torkelson and Sweeney set the stage for Meadows’ two-run double. Matt Vierling, Riley Greene, Kerry Carpenter and Colt Keith followed with consecutive hits, turning the game into a rout.