Minneapolis, MN – Ryan Doumit clubbed a two-run homer in the seventh inning, and then hit the tie-breaking two-run double in the eighth to give the Minnesota Twins a 4-2 victory over the Detroit Tigers.
Omar Infante tied the contest with a two-run shot in the eighth inning, but with the bases full in the bottom half, Doumit lined a hit to center field, giving him a career-high 71 RBI on the season.
The Tigers saw their lead in the AL Central trimmed to one games over the Chicago White Sox, who beat the Tampa Bay Rays Friday night.
"That's a good team over there. It's a team that's had our number all year long. It's nice to go out there and play the role of spoiler," Doumit said. "That's what we have to play for from here on out."
Scott Diamond threw the first 7 1/3 innings for the Twins. Jared Burton (3-1) got the win and Glen Perkins retired the side in order in the ninth for his 16th save.
The Twins also came up huge defensively. Diamond gave up three straight singles in the sixth inning, the last to right field by Delmon Young. Ben Revere threw a strike to home plate to get Miguel Cabrera out at the plate to keep the game scoreless.
"The key for me has been working down in the zone, getting back to throwing strikes. The defense was huge," Diamond said.
Drew Smyly, filling in for Max Scherzer, allowed two hits over the first 5 1/3 innings for the Tigers.
"I know what you have to do up here to get wins. Our starting pitcher did enough of that tonight for us. We just didn't do the other things to win this game," Tigers manager Jim Leyland said.
Justin Morneau reached first on Prince Fielder's fielding error to start the bottom of the seventh. Doumit then homered to left field off Phil Coke.
Infante went deep off Diamond just after Austin Jackson made it to first on Trevor Plouffe's miscue.
In the bottom half, Brayan Villarreal (3-5) issued walks to Denard Span and Joe Mauer, sandwiched around a sacrifice bunt. swiped third, and Morneau was walked leading to Doumit's big hit.
Game Notes
Twins infielder Tsuyoshi Nishioka was given his unconditional release Friday and has become a free agent ... Cabrera went 2-for-4 and is batting .406 this season against the Twins. His overall average is .327, which leads the American League ... The season series is even after 16 games.
Receive your weekly recap of all the happenings around the world of sports.