Tigers Beat Twins 6-5 to Salvage Split, Stay Two Games Up

DETROIT — Justin Verlander kept
the Detroit Tigers on top in the AL Central, pitching eight innings in
a 6-5 victory over the Minnesota Twins on Tuesday night that salvaged a
split of their critical doubleheader.

Detroit increased its division lead
to two over Minnesota, which won the day game 3-2 in 10 innings, with
two games left in the series and five to go in the regular season.

Verlander (18-9) gave up four runs
and eight hits. Fernando Rodney pitched the ninth for his 36th save in
37 chances, overcoming some shaky defense that allowed Minnesota to
pull within a run.

Brian Duensing (5-2) gave up five
runs over 4 2/3 innings for the Twins, who had a chance to at least tie
the game in the eighth and ninth.

Delmon Young started the Minnesota
ninth with an infield single. Rodney retired the next two batters and
Nick Punto followed with a fly ball to center that Curtis Granderson
misjudged, allowing it to go over his head and helping the Twins pull
within a run.

Rodney then got Denard Span to hit a game-ending fly to left.

And, the Motor City exhaled.

Detroit, coming close to falling into
a tie for the division lead, finished the day in the same position it
was at the start of the doubleheader, delighting the crowd of 30,240.

If the Tigers can beat the Twins on
Wednesday and Thursday, they'll win their first division title since
1987. If Detroit doesn't take the next two games at home, the AL
Central won't be decided until the weekend — or early next week.

Minnesota has clinched the season
series and would host the tiebreaker if one is necessary, likely on
Tuesday because Brett Favre and the Vikings are playing Green Bay on
Monday night at the Metrodome.

"This is playoff baseball — we just got started a little early this year," Minnesota manager Ron Gardenhire said.

Verlander set the tone early in the
nightcap, retiring the side on swinging strikeouts in the second as
part of a dominating stretch in which he retired 10 straight. He
finished with eight strikeouts.

Miguel Cabrera helped out
offensively in the second inning, hitting a no-doubt homer to left.
Magglio Ordonez, who started the day hitting an AL-best .408 in
September, put Detroit ahead 3-0 in the third with a sharply hit
double.

Detroit's Brandon Inge — the first to face Bobby Keppel — hit a two-run single in the fifth inning for a 5-0 lead.

The consistently scrappy Twins pulled within three in the sixth on Orlando Cabrera's RBI single and Jason Kubel's sacrifice fly.

The Twins had their star, Joe Mauer,
at the plate with two on and one out in the eighth. Verlander threw a
wild pitch, allowing the runners to advance to scoring position, and
Mauer hit a run-scoring groundout. Kubel followed with an RBI
double to get Minnesota within one.

Detroit manager Jim Leyland visited
the mound and after Verlander shouted some words into his glove, the
ace remained in the game.

Verlander got Michael Cuddyer to
ground out, getting assists from Inge charging in from third and
Cabrera, who caught the low throw at first.

Granderson hit his 30th homer in the eighth to give Detroit a two-run cushion.

The Tigers wish they were as productive at the plate during the day.

Orlando Cabrera hit a go-ahead single in the 10th inning of the opener, leading Minnesota to the win.

Brandon Lyon (6-5) helped the Twins
by throwing consecutive wild pitches after throwing only one previously
all season. Jon Rauch (4-1) earned the win and Joe Nathan picked up his
career-high 45th save.

Notes
Verlander threw a season-high
129 pitches. … Granderson also homered in the day game. … No major
league team has remained in first place from May 10 — or sooner — until
losing the division title in the last week of a season, according to
STATS LLC. … Mauer decided to catch the second game instead of
serving as the team's DH. "Joe came in and told me he was good to go.
When Joe Mauer says he's catching, I'm not going to argue with him,"
Gardenhire said.