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Inge's homer in ninth inning lifts Tigers over Twins

Apr 29, 2007 - 8:07 PM DETROIT (Ticker) -- Magglio Ordonez continued his torrid hitting against Johan Santana before Brandon Inge provided the big blow for the Detroit Tigers.

Inge led off the bottom of the ninth inning with a home run off Jesse Crain to lift the Tigers to a 4-3 victory over the Minnesota Twins on Sunday.

The win snapped the Tigers' five-game losing streak against their American League Central Division rivals dating to last season.

It appeared the Twins were in good position to keep that streak going with Santana on the mound. The reigning American League Cy Young Award winner was 2-0 with a 0.64 ERA and 16 strikeouts in his first two road starts.

But Santana also had to contend with Ordonez, who is now 15-for-35 with four home runs and 14 RBI against the Venezuelan lefthander.

Ordonez hit a two-run homer off Santana in the third to stake the Tigers to a 2-0 lead. Gary Sheffield singled with one out before Ordonez hit a fastball over the right field wall for his fourth home run of the season.

Santana also yielded a walk and a single to Ordonez. He was lifted after six innings, throwing 80 of 114 pitches for strikes and allowing three runs and eight hits.

The Twins responded with two runs in the fourth after Maroth retired the first two batters. Torii Hunter started the rally with a bloop single to extend his career-high hitting streak to 15 games.

Mike Redmond followed Hunter's single with a base hit and and Jason Kubel delivered a two-run double, tying the game. Catcher Ivan Rodriguez picked Kubel off second to end the inning.

The Tigers reclaimed the lead when Marcus Thames led off the fourth with his third home run of the season. But Hunter homered over the left field wall in the sixth - his fifth homer - to tie the game.

The Tigers have won all five games started by Mike Maroth this season. Maroth entered with a 3-9 career record against the Twins but did not get the decision, allowing three runs and nine hits in 6 2/3 innings.

Todd Jones retired all three batters he faced in the ninth and picked up the win when Inge hit a 3-1 pitch by Crain over the left field wall.

The loss snapped a three-game winning streak for the Twins, who outscored Detroit, 16-6, in the first two games of the weekend series.