DETROIT (AP) – Scott Baker allowed five hits in seven innings and Justin Morneau homered and drove in two runs as the Minnesota Twins beat the Detroit Tigers 5-2 Saturday night in the second game of a day-night doubleheader.

Mike Redmond also had two RBIs for Minnesota.

After Detroit won the opener 2-1, Baker outpitched Justin Verlander in a matchup of top pitching prospects who were making their second major league starts.

Baker (1-1) walked one and struck out five. Jesse Crain pitched a scoreless eighth and Joe Nathan worked the ninth for his 27th save in 30 chances, completing the six-hitter.

Verlander (0-2) gave up five runs and eight hits in six innings, walking two and striking out three. He was Detroit’s first-round pick in the 2004 draft.

Minnesota broke a 1-all tie with three runs in the fourth. Morneau doubled in a run and Redmond drove in two with a single.

Morneau added his 12th home run leading off the sixth inning. He was only 4-for-31 coming into the game.

Omar Infante singled in a run for the Tigers in the seventh.

Minnesota took a 1-0 lead in the first on Joe Mauer’s RBI double into the left-field corner. It scored Nick Punto, who walked with one out.

Detroit tied it at 1 in its half of the inning on Magglio Ordonez’s two-out double. It scored Curtis Granderson, who had singled with one out.

In the first game, Sean Douglass (3-0) started two key rundowns while pitching seven strong innings for the Tigers.

“Sean has certainly pitched very well for us,” Tigers manager Alan Trammell said. “Today, though, he made two very nice plays in the field that we certainly needed in a one-run game.”

In the first inning, Douglass caught Punto leaning the wrong way, stepped off the rubber and ran at him to set up a 1-3 putout. In the fifth, he fielded Juan Castro’s grounder and turned to catch Bret Boone between second and third. Again, he ran at the runner in textbook fashion, allowing third baseman Brandon Inge to tag Boone and then throw to second to retire Castro for a double play.

“He handled both of those plays perfectly,” Trammell said. “He did just what he was supposed to do.”

Twins manager Ron Gardenhire wasn’t happy with either play, nor with Mauer for being thrown out trying to go from first to second on a flyball in the second inning.

“We lost the game on the basepaths,” Gardenhire said. “We gave them four outs and shot ourselves in the foot. That’s how you lose a 2-1 ballgame.”

Douglass, who doesn’t remember ever having two such plays in one start, also starred on the mound. He allowed one run on five hits, walking four and striking out one.

“I feel like I’m throwing the ball well and giving the team a chance to win,” said Douglass, who is unbeaten in five starts since coming up from Triple-A Toledo on June 22.

Fernando Rodney pitched the eighth and Kyle Farnsworth finished for his fourth save in six tries.

Granderson hit a go-ahead homer in the seventh.

Detroit took a 1-0 lead in the second when Ordonez led off with a single, took second on Craig Monroe’s single and scored on Infante’s base hit.

Minnesota tied the game in the top of the seventh when Mauer doubled, moved up on a groundout and scored on Jacque Jones’s single past a diving Chris Shelton at first.

Carlos Silva (7-4) took the loss. He allowed both runs on eight hits, walking one and striking out three.

Notes: Ordonez got hits in both contests to extend his hitting streak to 16 games. … Both teams made roster moves between games to move their second-game starters onto the roster. The Tigers sent utility infielder Kevin Hooper to Triple-A Toledo, while the Twins sent outfielder Michael Ryan to Triple-A Rochester.

AP-ES-07-23-05 2123EDT


Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.

Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.