Tigers 9, Twins 7
Brandon Inge tripled in the go-ahead run in the top of the ninth as the Detroit Tigers edged the host Minnesota Twins, 9-7, on Wednesday.
Victor Martinez continued his tear by going 3-for-4 with a homer and three RBIs and Jhonny Peralta added a two-run blast for the Tigers. Martinez is 9-for-12 with two homers and 10 RBIs in the last three games.
Detroit jumped out to a 5-2 lead with a three-run rally in the fifth only to have the bullpen break down in the seventh as the Twins pushed four runs across to retake the lead, 6-5.
The Tigers would go up again on Peralta’s two-run blast off Matt Capps in the eighth, but Minnesota responded again in the bottom of the frame, knotting it at 7-7 on Matt Tolbert’s RBI double off Joaquin Benoit (1-2).
The Twins elected to stick with Capps (1-2) in the ninth, and the burly righthander got the first out before allowing Ramon Santiago to reach on an infield grounder back to the mound.
Inge followed and drove the 10th pitch of the at-bat to deep right. Inge would score one batter later on Austin Jackson’s sacrifice bunt.
Jose Valverde worked the ninth for his eighth save.