The Minnesota Twins rallied late to beat the Detroit Tigers 4-2 Friday in the opener of a three-game series.
Both starting pitchers — Detroit's Drew Smyly and Minnesota's Scott Diamond — pitched well but received no-decisions for their efforts. Smyly gave up no runs and struck out five in 5.1 innings, leaving with the game tied 0-0. Diamond pitched seven innings and gave up two runs (just one of them earned).
The Twins broke the 0-0 tie in the bottom of the seventh inning. After Justin Morneau reached on an error by Prince Fielder, Ryan Doumit followed with a home run off of Phil Coke to put the Twins up 2-0.
The Tigers tied the game under similar circumstances in the top of the eighth. Austin Jackson reached base on an error by Trevor Plouffe, then the next batter, Omar Infante, hit a two-run home run.
The Twins scored the game-winning runs in the bottom of the eighth. After Denard Span walked and Joe Mauer was intentionally walked, Doumit doubled, driving both runners in.
Brayan Villareal (3-5, 2.52 ERA) took the loss for the Tigers. Jared Burton (3-1, 1.95 ERA) won for Minnesota and Glen Perkins pitched a perfect ninth for his 16th save.