Tigers 8, Twins 4
Alex Avila hit a three-run homer and Ramon Santiago added a two-run blast as the Detroit Tigers pulled out of an early hole and topped the Minnesota Twins 8-4 on Friday for their seventh straight victory.
Delmon Young continued to torment his old team with a solo homer and Wilson Betemit chipped in an RBI triple for the Tigers, who increased their lead in the American League Central to 9½ games over Chicago. The White Sox lost to Cleveland 8-4 on Friday.
Brad Penny (10-10) put Detroit in an early hole by surrendering four runs in the first inning on a walk and four straight hits. The veteran righthander, who is pitching his way out of a postseason rotation slot with a 9.00 ERA over his last three starts, did manage to stick around for five innings to grab a win.
That was thanks to the offense, as Avila brought the Tigers back into the game with one swing in the second. He came up with two on and worked the count to 3-2 before getting an outside fastball and driving his 18th homer to the opposite field.
Betemit tied it with his triple in the fourth and Santiago followed one batter later by taking a 1-2 pitch from Kevin Slowey (0-5) over the wall in right.