Torii Hunter homered on the first pitch of the ninth inning to break a tie and the Detroit Tigers beat the Minnesota Twins 8-6 on Monday to open a three-game series.
Hunter's shot to left-center came on a slider from Casey Fien (5-6), who gave up a homer to Miguel Cabrera on a curveball two pitches later.
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The blasts came after the Twins had tied the score with two runs in the bottom of the eighth.
The AL Central-leading Tigers were coming off a three-game sweep of Cleveland over the weekend and have won seven of their last eight.
Kyle Ryan (2-0) induced a double play from Eduardo Nunez to end the eighth inning after Minnesota tied the game. Ryan played stopper after the bullpen coughed up a 6-4 lead for Max Scherzer.
[SportsNetwork.com]
