• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers

Perez leads Tigers to third straight win

Sep 15, 2007 - 3:58 AM By Anthony Maggio PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

MINNEAPOLIS (Ticker) -- Timo Perez drove in three runs and Nate Robertson earned his first win in more than a month as the Detroit Tigers topped the Minnesota Twins, 4-2, on Friday.

Ivan Rodriguez drew a two-out, bases-loaded walk against Minnesota starter Matt Garza to tie the game at 2-2 in the sixth, and Perez followed with a single to right off reliever Juan Rincon to put the Tigers ahead for good.

Robertson (8-11) allowed a two-run homer in the fourth by Justin Morneau but not much else as Detroit began its six-game road trip on a winning note. With the triumph, the Tigers (81-67) remained 5 1/2 games behind the first-place Cleveland Indians (86-61) in the American League Central Division and 3 1/2 back of the New York Yankees (84-63) for the top spot in the wild card standings.

"We're behind the eight ball, so we've got to win as many as we can and hope we catch a break," Detroit manager Jim Leyland said. "We just have got to keep playing. Keep playing, see what happens. We're obviously a long shot."

Garza (3-6) fell to 0-2 in his last three starts and remained winless in his career at home.

Detroit got on the board first as Perez followed a one-out walk by Carlos Guillen and a single by Rodriguez with an RBI base hit in the second inning. But Garza avoided further damage by inducing a double-play grounder from Sean Casey and cruised from there until the sixth.

Morneau put Minnesota in front in the fourth, belting a shot to left field after Torii Hunter's leadoff infield single. It was Morneau's 30th blast of the season, giving him back-to-back 30-homer campaigns.

The reigning AL MVP, Morneau is hitting .154 lifetime against Robertson, with three of his four hits being home runs.

But Garza, who allowed just an unearned run and three hits in seven innings at Comerica Park in a loss on July 17, unraveled in the sixth. He gave up a leadoff single to Curtis Granderson and loaded the bases by walking Gary Sheffield and Guillen with one and two outs, respectively.

Garza thought he had strike three on Sheffield for the second out, and Twins manager Ron Gardenhire thought that began his starter's downfall.

"He lost his composure a little bit," Gardenhire said. "Matt kind of let it get to him, he ends up walking a couple of guys. That kind of happens with young pitchers. It's one of those things where once something happens, you can't bring it back, you have to move on past it."

Garza disagreed.

"I was able to bounce back and regroup and got the flyout from Magglio (Ordonez)," Garza said. "Guillen, four pitches. But Rodriguez, we battled and the fastball just got away from me. It rose on me. It started right down the middle of the plate."

Garza had a full count on Rodriguez, but the 14-time All-Star fouled off three straight pitches before walking to drive in a run and end the righthander's night.

Perez followed with his two-run single off Rincon.

"He's a nice player, kind of lost in the bottom of the order there," Leyland said. "He's dangerous because he swings. He's been laying the bat on the ball real well."

Garza failed to win at home yet again, falling to 0-10 in 11 career starts here. He has a 6.40 lifetime ERA at the Metrodome with a .317 opponents batting average.

Robertson took it from there, tossing seven innings to notch his first win since August 12 against Oakland. He allowed two runs and five hits with three walks and five strikeouts to improve to 2-0 in three starts against Minnesota this year.

In his only other start in the Metrodome on July 17, Robertson held the Twins scoreless over seven innings. He had been 1-5 in 10 starts since.

"It was a good day today," Robertson said. "The command got off there a little bit, and with this kind of club, they'll make you throw strikes. Fortunately, I got out of the inning where I walked a few guys and nobody scored right there."

Fernando Rodney relieved Tim Byrdak in the eighth and recorded three outs before Todd Jones retired the side in order in the ninth for his 35th save in 40 chances.

Guillen walked twice and scored two runs for the Tigers, who have won five straight meetings with the Twins and improved to 6-1 at the Metrodome this season.

Hunter had a pair of hits for Minnesota, which lost for the eighth time in its last 11 games.