DETROIT – Brandon Inge hit his second game-ending homer of the season, giving the Detroit Tigers a 3-2 victory over the Minnesota Twins on Saturday night.
With two out in the bottom of the ninth, Inge hit a 2-1 pitch into the left-field stands off Glen Perkins (4-4) to give Detroit its eighth straight victory.
Inge hit a game-ending homer on April 13 against Texas' Darren Oliver. His only other homer this season came in his first at-bat with the Tigers after an month-long exile to Triple-A Toledo.
Al Alburquerque (6-1) picked up the victory with a perfect ninth inning.
Neither starting pitcher was involved in the decision. Detroit's Max Scherzer allowed two runs on five hits in seven innings, while Anthony Swarzak gave up a pair of runs on four hits in six innings.
The Tigers took a third-inning lead on Wilson Betemit's seventh homer, but the Twins tied it 1-1 in the fourth on Joe Mauer's third home run of the season.
Detroit went back in front in the fourth when Andy Dirks led off with a double, took third on Miguel Cabrera's one-out groundout and scored on Victor Martinez's RBI single.
Scherzer held the one-run lead until the sixth, when Trevor Plouffe drew a walk, moved to third on Mauer's base hit. Austin Jackson then made a spectacular leaping catch of Danny Valencia's drive to deep center, but Plouffe easily scored from third on the play.
NOTES: The game, which drew 38,567 fans, was Star Wars Night at Comerica Park. Before the game, with numerous costumed characters on the field, Plouffe came out of the Minnesota dugout and rubbed his bat on Darth Vader's helmet. The apparent attempt at good luck didn't work though, as Plouffe struck out in his first two at-bats. ... The teams complete the series on Sunday afternoon with Doug Fister (7-13) pitching for the Tigers against Minnesota's Scott Diamond (1-3). ... Inge had only entered the game in the eighth inning as a defensive replacement for Betemit.
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