The Twins set out to prove that they are capable of beating the Detroit Tigers, and they did just that -- barely. The Twins scored 2 runs right away in the first inning off starter, Jeremy Bonderman. Luis Castillo started off the rally by beating out the throw on a chopper up the middle. Joe Mauer then reached on a walk and Torii Hunter came through with a double down the 3rd baseline. The hit scored Mauer and Castillo and Hunter made it to 3rd on a Craig Monroe Error. It was quite dissapointing that the Twins couldn't score with Hunter on 3rd and no outs. Michael Cuddyer lined out to 3rd, Justin Morneau walked and Batista grounded out to end the inning.

The Tigers put one run on the board in the second on a Carlos Guillen double, but the Twins got the run back in the 3rd on a Cuddyer single that scored Mauer. Each team put up a run in the 4th and the Tigers tied up the game in the 5th with 2-run homer by Curtis Granderson.

Scott Baker's day ended after 6 innings and Fransisco Liriano came in for relief. At that point I was pretty confident that he'd be able to hold down the Tigers and the Twins would be able to muster up at least 1 run for the win. Unfortunately, Liriano again struggled against the Tigers. He faced 5 batters, recording 2 outs and giving up 3 hits and 2 runs to give the Tigers a 6-4 lead. Jesse Crain came in to get the final out of the 7th. The Tiger lead was immediately reduced to one in the bottom of the inning when Mauer hit one off the left field wall to score Castillo. Jesse Crain struck out the side in the 8th, but the Twins went scoreless in the bottom of the inning.

The Bottom of the ninth brought in Detroit Closer Todd Jones who was 6 for 6 in save opportunities this year. He started off the ninth by retiring Rondell White on a ground ball. His troubles started when he walked pinch-hitter Luis Rodgriguez. Shannon Stewart followed up with a triple off the baggy to tie the game and put the Twins in good shape for the win. Castillo was able to poke a hit through on the left side to finally beat the Tigers in the 5th game against them this year.

Tonight was a perfect example of what can happen when you get hits from the middle of the lineup. I don't want to draw any conclusions from a couple games, but the Twins bats have looked a lot better the past two games. They're shown a lot more patience at the plate, finding better pitches to swing at and drawing walks. It was also encouraging that they've managed to put up 13 runs against Kenny Rogers and Jeremy Bonderman, two pitchers that are pretty decent. Having said that, I'm not predicting any kind of magical 15-game winning streak from this team.

Game Notes

• Hunter had a second straight good night at the plate. Despite how bad he's been at times this season, he has been producing runs for the team.
• Each of the top 3 batters in the lineup had 2 hits, something they'v been doing all season. The difference tonight was that there were some hits behind them too.
• Jesse Crain had another strong outing. I'm not sure it'll be smooth sailing from here, but maybe it won't be as bad. His striking out the side in the 8th seemed to re-energize the team, and the fans.
• Juan Rincon picked up the win, his second of the year.