Homers lead Twins in battle of slumping teams

DETROIT (AP) -- For a brief moment Tuesday night, the Detroit Tigers thought they had solved one of their biggest nemeses.

It didn't last.

Facing Minnesota's Brad Radke, the Tigers took a 1-0 lead when Placido Polanco led off the first with a single and scored on Brandon Inge's triple.

Radke then retired Chris Shelton, Magglio Ordonez and Carlos Pena, leaving Inge stranded at third.

The Twins scored four runs in the second and three in the third and went on to a 9-3 victory.

Radke (9-11) improved to 19-6 against Detroit in his career. He allowed three runs and six hits in seven innings.

"The first inning was pretty important," Radke said. "Maybe that got us going a bit. It was nice to see the guys put up some crooked numbers."

Twins manager Ron Gardenhire wasn't surprised.

"That's what he can do very well," he said. "He knows how to pitch with runners on base."

Minnesota has won two straight, both against Detroit, after losing five of six, while the Tigers have lost 11 of 13.

"I sense some players have given in a little, and that's unacceptable," Tigers manager Alan Trammell said.

Trammell, whose team has struggled at the plate during its recent skid, knew the Tigers were in trouble when Inge was left on third.

"That's how things are going," he said. "Man on third, no one out and we don't score."

Nate Robertson (6-14) gave up seven runs -- five earned -- and seven hits in three innings. Robertson has lost his last four starts with an ERA of 9.41 over that span.

"Every time I come to the park to pitch, I feel like this is going to be the day that I turn this around," he said. "It just hasn't happened."

Matthew LeCroy led off the second with a homer and Lew Ford followed with a double. With one out, Mike Redmond hit an RBI single, took second on Robertson's throwing error and scored when Jason Bartlett's sharp grounder went through Inge's legs at third base. After Shannon Stewart struck out, Juan Castro made it 4-1 with an RBI single.

"We came out and scored some runs and they made a couple mistakes -- they missed a couple plays," Gardenhire said. "That usually ends up killing you, and we banged the ball around on them after that."

The Twins made it 7-1 in the third on Luis Rivas' three-run homer, his first of the season.

"Nothing against Luis Rivas, but he's not a power hitter, and I was shocked by that," Robertson said. "I was just staring at the fence in disbelief."

Ivan Rodriguez cut the lead to 7-3 in the fourth with his 14th homer, but Barlett capped the scoring in the eighth with a two-run homer, his first since May 5.

"Guys are relaxed right now," Bartlett said. "We're just pretty much going out there and swinging the bat."

Game notes
Redmond left the game in the third with an injured right heel after beating out a single. He is listed as day-to-day. ... Rivas last homered on Sept. 20, 2004, at Chicago. ... Detroit's Dmitri Young (leg) was out of the starting lineup for the fifth straight game. ... Radke needed only five pitches to retire the Tigers in the seventh. ... Minnesota's three homers tied a season high.