MINNEAPOLIS, May 4 (UPI) -- J.J. Hardy tripled and then scored on a wild pitch in the bottom of the ninth Tuesday, giving the Minnesota Twins a 4-3 win over the Detroit Tigers.
Ryan Perry (1-2) served up a one-out triple to Hardy and then let fly with a wild pitch to Wilson Perry that allowed Hardy to score easily.
Hardy's heroics nailed down a complete-game victory for Nick Blackburn (2-1), who gave up 11 hits but held the Tigers to three runs. Jim Thome and Delmon Young notched RBI for the Twins.
Magglio Ordonez and Miguel Cabrerra both had a pair of hits and an RBI for the Tigers. Dontrelle Willis gave up three runs on four hits in 5 1/3 innings.
Minnesota scored twice in the first inning to take the early lead. Detroit tied the score with a pair in the fourth and then tied it again in the top of the ninth on a lead-off home run by Brennan Boesch.
Detroit's loss came shortly after it was announced that their long-time radio broadcaster Ernie Harwell had died at the age of 92. Harwell, a member of the Baseball Hall of Fame, did play-by-play for the Tigers for 42 years.
