Buscher, Cuddyer pull Twins past Brewers in 12th

MILWAUKEE (AP) -- Prince Fielder thought he'd won the game. Brian Buscher actually did.

Buscher singled with the bases loaded for his third straight hit and pinch-hitter Michael Cuddyer hit a two-run triple and scored on an error in the 12th inning to lead the Minnesota Twins to a 9-4 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers on Saturday night.

"It was wild," said Buscher, recalled from Triple-A Rochester on Friday. "Everybody wants to be in that situation, luckily I came through."

With two outs in the 10th, Fielder hit a drive off the center-field wall that highlighted the discussion for instant replay. In this case, the umpire crew appeared to make the correct call.

"It was crazy stuff," Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said. "If they had ruled differently, I don't think I can get kicked out of the game when the game is over, can I?"

Fielder's shot appeared to hit the yellow line, but not go over the wall after Carlos Gomez attempted a leaping catch. According to the ground rules at Miller Park, a ball that goes over the yellow line on the top of the outfield fence in flight is a homer, if it strikes the line and bounces back it is not.

"No, no, it wasn't," said Gomez, who had the best view of the play. "I wanted to catch it, though."

Fielder pumped his fists before hurrying for a triple. After a short discussion by the umpire crew, the call stood and Twins reliever Matt Guerrier got out of the inning, forcing Mike Cameron to ground out weakly.

"It doesn't matter, it hit the yellow line, it didn't hit over the fence," said Brewers manager Ned Yost, who appreciated that the crew got together to agree on the call. "It hit the yellow line and bounced back."

In the 12th, Buscher drove in two runs to break a 4-all tie with his single off reliever Julian Tavarez, who had loaded the bases with no outs by allowing a single to Joe Mauer and two walks.

Tavarez (0-1) got Delmon Young to ground into a fielder's choice to get an out before Buscher's big hit.

"I was looking for the double play, and I wasn't able to get it," Tavarez said. "It's a tough loss."

After the second out, Cuddyer, who was out of the lineup because he was hit by a pitch in the right hand on Friday night and only available in case of an emergency, drove in two on a flyball to deep center.

He scored on the play when center fielder Cameron threw the ball away to give Minnesota a 9-4 lead.

"Adrenaline is a powerful drug," said Cuddyer, who wants to return to the starting lineup on Sunday. "It's sore and stiff. It did get better from the time I walked into the clubhouse, though. It's definitely gotten better."

Buscher also added a sacrifice fly in the seventh and scored the go-ahead run in the top of the ninth as the Twins rallied from a 3-1 deficit, but Russell Branyan tied the game at 4 with a two-out, 415-foot homer off Twins closer Joe Nathan in the bottom of the inning.

It was Nathan's second blown save opportunity of the year, but the Twins have won two in a row to improve to 3-6 on this 10-game road trip. Brian Bass (3-2) got the win after pitching the 11th.

The Twins scored a run in the seventh, eighth and ninth, but squandered opportunities for a big inning and left the bases loaded with one out in the 11th off Tavarez.

Buscher made sure it didn't happen again in the 12th.

"I didn't want to let him get a good pitch past me," Buscher said.

In the ninth, Buscher singled and the ball took a funny hop past right fielder Corey Hart for a two-base error to put him on third with no outs.

Brendan Harris drove Buscher in on the sacrifice to give the Twins a 4-3 lead, but Nathan would blow it minutes later only for Buscher to come through again.

"You know who really picked us up? Buscher. In my opinion, he was the star of the game, big hit after big hit," Cuddyer said. "Those last three hits he got were all huge."

Game notes
Brewers LF Ryan Braun hit his 18th homer in the fifth. He has driven in a run in each of the last six games, giving him 52 this season. ... Milwaukee gave up two more unearned runs on Saturday night and eight in the series so far. ... Brewers RHP David Riske (elbow) will begin his rehab assignment in Triple-A Nashville on Tuesday. ... Brewers RHP Eric Gagne (right shoulder) said he hopes to throw from the mound during his next session Sunday.