Tigers, Twins Blow Series Of Opportunities, Gerald Laird Wins It In 13th

Minneapolis, MN (Sports Network) - Gerald Laird's 13th-inning home run was the difference, as the Detroit Tigers pulled out a 10-9 victory over the Minnesota Twins in the finale of a three-game series.

Laird's blast was one of five Tigers home runs, as Don Kelly, Jhonny Peralta and Ryan Raburn also went deep. Casper Wells hit his first career homer to tie the contest in the ninth inning for Detroit, which had dropped the first two games of this set.

Wells was batting in the lineup spot of first baseman Miguel Cabrera, who left the game in the sixth inning with left biceps tendinitis. Cabrera is considered day-to-day.

Nick Blackburn (8-9), the Twins' scheduled starter for Friday's game against Texas, gave up Laird's homer to take the loss. Minnesota's lead in the AL Central over the idle White Sox shrank to 3 1/2 games.

"It's disappointing, you know," said Twins reliever Brian Duensing. "We had a lot of chances to win the ballgame, just couldn't get it done."

Following Wells' home run, Detroit took the first lead of extra innings in the 11th, which Brandon Inge began with a double off Duensing. He reached third on Peralta's base hit and scored on Raburn's single.

But the Twins rallied off Jose Valverde (2-3) to force a tie. With two on and one out, Michael Cuddyer hit a ball to third base. However, Inge bobbled the ball and his throw to second was too late, leaving the bases loaded.

Delmon Young then sent a ground ball to second base, where Will Rhymes had trouble fielding it cleanly. Rhymes then gained control and ran to the base, but ran into shortstop Ramon Santiago. He managed to sneak his toe on the bag for one out, but the possibility of a double-play had long disappeared, and Denard Span crossed the plate to make it a 9-9 game.

After a scoreless 12th inning, Laird came up with one out and crushed a low fastball to left-center field off Blackburn.

Valverde then made the lead stick, working a scoreless bottom half for the victory. He threw the final three innings and gave up two hits and an unearned run, walked one and struck out four.

"It was a heck of an effort," said Tigers manager Jim Leyland. "We hung in there, had a couple miscues. We fought through it, got some huge hits...A really nice win for us. It didn't look too good, obviously, but we hung in there and we snuck one."

Valverde was the last of six Tigers relievers, who pitched seven innings and gave up just three runs (two earned). Starter Justin Verlander went six frames and allowed six runs, only three of which were earned.

Twins starter Scott Baker gave up two runs in his first two innings, but was pulled after that because of right elbow pain. The short start and the extra innings put a strain on Minnesota's bullpen, but Jeff Manship did a nice job immediately after Baker, giving up one run in four innings.

It was a back-and-forth game throughout, and the teams were tied 3-3 after the top of the fifth inning.

But in the home fifth, the Twins seemingly took control. Joe Mauer and Cuddyer singled with one out before Young batted the ball to Verlander. A missed catch by Rhymes allowed Mauer to score, and Danny Valencia followed with a sacrifice fly to plate Cuddyer. Jason Repko later singled in Young to make it a 6-3 game.

Valencia's RBI single in the seventh pushed Minnesota's lead to four, but the Tigers made up the difference in one inning.

Randy Flores began the eighth on the mound for the Twins and gave up a one-out solo shot to Peralta. Matt Guerrier then came in to pitch but surrendered a homer to pinch-hitter Raburn.

Alex Avila followed with a single before Guerrier fanned Santiago, but the inning was prolonged when J.J. Hardy's throwing error allowed Austin Jackson to reach base. Rhymes made the Twins pay for the mistake, as his two-run single evened the contest at 7-7.

But Minnesota edged back in front in the home half, when Repko worked a leadoff walk. He moved to second on a bunt and advanced to third on a passed ball before scoring on Alexi Casilla's single off Phil Coke.

Jesse Crain then took the mound to close the game for the Twins, but Wells took an outside slider the opposite way for a home run. The hit made it an 8-8 game, which went to extra innings after Robbie Weinhardt worked a scoreless bottom of the ninth.

The game last four hours, 47 minutes...Minnesota still leads the season series, 9-6. The teams have one more series scheduled this season: September 24-26 in Detroit...Jackson and Raburn each had three hits for the Tigers...Cuddyer, Valencia and Jose Morales led the Twins with three hits apiece.