Football
19y

Lohse slams the door on Tigers in Twins win

DETROIT (AP) -- Kyle Lohse felt a little extra pressure as he
took the mound on Monday night.

AL wild-card standings
Team W L Pct. GB
Indians 82 62 .569 --
Yankees 80 62 .563 1
A's 80 63 .559
Twins 74 69 .517

Lohse won in his first start since a tirade following his early
removal from a game, leading the Minnesota Twins over the Detroit
Tigers 2-1.

Lohse (9-12) allowed one run and six hits in seven innings,
stopping Minnesota's three-game losing streak. Last Tuesday, Lohse
damaged the door to manager Ron Gardenhire's office with a bat
after being pulled from a game after two innings.

"I wanted to go out and get off to a good start, so I could
forget about what happened last week," he said. "Gardenhire and I
talked, but I wanted to go out and get a good start and put it
behind me."

The pair met for about a half-hour Friday and said they settled
their differences.

"We talked about it, and he had his say and I had my say,"
Gardenhire said. "We talked about it and, as they say, water under
the bridge."

Lohse pitched his way out of trouble in the fifth, sixth and
seventh innings.

"He made pitches," Gardenhire said. "You have to make
pitches, and he made pitches when he had to."

Juan Rincon pitched a one-hit eighth, and Joe Nathan finished
with a perfect ninth for his 37th save in 42 chances. Minnesota,
which has faded from contention in the AL wild-card race, won for
only the second time in seven games.

Joe Mauer had four of the Twins' 13 hits, including a go-ahead
single in the seventh. Detroit has lost 10 of 12.

With the score 1-1, Shannon Stewart doubled off Chris Spurling
(3-2) with one out in the seventh and Nick Punto walked.
Left-hander Vic Darensbourg came in to face the left-handed-hitting
Mauer, who lined a pitch into left field.

Tigers starter Roman Colon allowed one run and nine hits in five
innings.

Placido Polanco's RBI single put Detroit ahead in the third, but
Michael Cuddyer tripled with two outs in the fourth and Chris
Heintz doubled for his first major league RBI.

"It was great," Heintz said. "Especially since I had a chance
to get it the previous at bat but grounded into a double play."

Polanco grounded into an inning-ending double play in the fifth,
and Detroit stranded two runners in the sixth when Chris Shelton
popped out and Carlos Pena struck out. Polanco flied out in the
seventh following Curtis Granderson's two-out double.

"I had some success against him. It was just one of those
things," Granderson said. "He kept a lot of us off-balance."

Game notes
Twins LHP Johan Santana will miss his scheduled start
Wednesday because of a blister on his middle finger. LHP Francisco
Liriano will start in his place. ... Polanco has nine hits in his
last three games.

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