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Twins continue winning ways against Tigers

Jul 1, 2007 - 12:14 AM DETROIT (Ticker) -- Kevin Slowey remained undefeated and Michael Cuddyer hit a three-run homer as the Minnesota Twins defeated the Detroit Tigers, 8-5, on Saturday.

Lew Ford doubled and homered for Minnesota, which has won four of five games.

Slowey (3-0) overcame a slow start to earn the win in his sixth major league start. The righthander allowed four runs on nine hits over six innings, striking out two and walking just one. The long-ball again troubled Slowey as he allowed home runs to Curtis Granderson and Marcus Thames, giving him 11 this season.

"I felt that I pitched pretty well," Slowey said. "The game plan was to throw all my pitches. I threw good strikes as opposed to throwing strikes.

"My velocity was good, not Joe Nathan good, just good." Dennys Reyes and Pat Neshek combined to get six outs and Joe Nathan pitched a perfect ninth for the Twins to record his 16th save of the season.

Miller (3-2), the Tigers' top pick in the 2006 draft, left after five innings, suffering through his poorest outing of the season. The lefthander allowed six runs and six hits over five innings, striking out four and walking a pair.

Cuddyer tripled and scored in the second and blasted his ninth homer in the fifth off Miller for a 6-1 lead.

"We're playing very well," Cuddyer said. "We get the big hits when we need them and the pitching is keeping us in the game." Jason Bartlett doubled to extend his hitting streak to 11 games and Ford hit his second homer of the season for Minnesota.

"It was a good day for us," Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said. "We were patient at the plate, we made the the kid (Miller) work. Slowey was OK and the pen took us the rest of the way."

Ivan Rodriguez added a solo shot for Detroit, which lost its fourth straight.

Detroit right fielder Magglio Ordonez was hitless in four at-bats, ending his 15-game game hitting streak.