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Martinez leads the way as Tigers rip Twins

May 11, 2011 - 5:26 AM Minneapolis, MN (Sports Network) - Victor Martinez continued his hitting tear, going 3-for-4 and knocking in four runs, as the Detroit Tigers dominated the Minnesota Twins, 10-2, to start a two-game series.

Jhonny Peralta and Brennan Boesch both drove in a pair of runs for Detroit, which has won seven of its last eight games.

"I thought we swung the bats well," Tigers manager Jim Leyland said. "I think we played a good game."

Rick Porcello (3-2) was solid for the Tigers, allowing just one run on three hits in five innings.

Twins starter Francisco Liriano (2-5) looked to follow up his no-hitter against the White Sox with another good start, but it was cut short due to illness. He left after the third inning but not before giving up four runs on three hits.

Rene Tosoni hit his first career home run for the Twins, who have dropped four in a row.

"We need some confidence," Twins outfielder Jason Kubel said. "We haven't had that in a while. We get it for a few games and something happens and we just go the other way. Hopefully we'll get it again."

With temperatures soaring near the 90s at game time, harsh weather popped up during the fourth inning and storms brought golf ball-sized hail stones that littered the field.

The grounds crew worked feverishly to clear the outfield, using snow blowers and rakes during a 64-minute delay.

Before the unusual weather delay, Liriano was making a bid at his possible second no-hitter in a row by retiring the first four batters he saw. However, he walked Martinez before serving a high fastball that Peralta sent into the left field seats for an early 2-0 lead.

Detroit kept Liriano in trouble with a two-out, bases-loaded situation in the third. With the count full, Martinez hit a grounder up the middle to double the Tigers' lead to 4-0 and push his hitting streak to 10 games.

Brian Duensing replaced Liriano in the fourth inning and wasn't much better. With the bases loaded, he walked Scott Sizemore to bring in a run and Magglio Ordonez grounded into a double play to end the threat.

The game was then delayed during the home half of the inning.

With a 5-0 lead after the break, Detroit continued its dominance as Martinez ripped an RBI double in the fifth to add to the margin.

The Twins, though, got on the board during the home half with Tosoni's leadoff homer. But the home team gave up two runs in the seventh and in the eighth while only answering back with a Luke Hughes RBI double in the seventh.

Game Notes

There hasn't been a pitcher to throw consecutive no hitters since Cincinnati's Johnny Vander Meer did it in back-to-back starts in June of 1938...Porcello improved to 3-3 in eight starts against the Twins...Peralta had a hit in the game and now has 996 career hits...The Tigers split their 18 matchups with the Twins last season, but were just 2-7 in Minnesota. Detroit is still just 5-15 in its last 20 trips to the Twin Cities.