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DETROIT (AP) – Minnesota overcame the front of Detroit's pitching staff and the back end, too. "We beat their ace on the first day and we beat their star closer on the second," Denny Hocking said after his two-run, 10th-inning double Thursday helped the Minnesota Twins beat the Detroit Tigers 9-5. Todd Jones blew a one-run ninth-inning lead, then allowed three more runs in the 10th. "This is my responsibility, and I stunk," Jones said. "I just feel bad for the other guys. They played so well, the fans got excited, and I go out and blow it." Minnesota, which beat Jeff Weaver in Tuesday's opener, couldn't hold a 3-0 lead, falling behind on Bobby Higginson's seventh-inning homer off Bob Wells. "Those are two quality wins," Hocking said. "We had a good spring training, and now we are looking for ways to sustain that." Jones relieved with a 4-3 lead for his first save chance of the season, but allowed singles to Corey Koskie and David Ortiz and loaded the bases with a one-out walk to Jacque Jones. Doug Mientkiewicz followed with a sacrifice fly. "I had been hitting fly balls all game, and I just wanted to keep doing that," Mientkiewicz said. "I saw Jones shake off the catcher, and I was figuring that he would probably want to throw the cutter for a first-pitch strike. So that's what I was looking for, and I was able to drive it to right." Jones walked Cristian Guzman leading off the 10th, and Luis Rivas reached on an error by second baseman Damion Easley. After a walk to Matt Lawton, C.J. Nitkowski came in and gave up a go-ahead sacrifice fly to Koskie. "I sent Todd out there for the 10th so he could try to find his edge," Tigers manager Phil Garner said. "He's going to have games like this -- he's either in the castle or the outhouse, nothing in between. But if we need him tomorrow, he'll be out there. He'll have a couple losses, but he's still a phenomenal pitcher." Chad Allen was intentionally walked and Rivas scored on a wild pitch for a 6-4 lead. Hocking then hit a two-run double and Jones hit an RBI double, chasing Nitkowski. "This is the way we need to play to win games," Twins manager Tom Kelly said. "Last year, we would have been swinging for the fences against Jones, but this time, we took the right approach and hit the ball in the right places." Winner Eddie Guardado (1-0) allowed an RBI double to Tony Clark in the bottom half. Tigers starter Brian Moehler allowed three runs and six hits in eight innings. Twins starter Eric Milton gave up three runs and seven hits in six innings. "This seems to happen a lot - we win the games I start, even when I don't get a decision," Milton said. "I feel very good about the way we have started this season - it will make the plane right to Kansas City a lot nicer." The second game of the season at Comerica Park drew 20,836, down from the sellout crowd of 40,104 in Tuesday's season opener. Minnesota took a 3-0 lead in the fourth on Torii Hunter's RBI grounder and Jones' two-run double. Juan Encarnacion hit an RBI grounder in the bottom half but the Tigers left the bases loaded when rookie Brandon Inge flied out. Easley saved a run in the fifth after Guzman's triple by making a diving stop on Lawton's grounder. Detroit tied it in the sixth when Hocking -- who had just entered the game -- misjudged Clark's fly to center for a double, and Deivi Cruz and Shane Halter followed with RBI doubles. Game notesTigers C Mitch Meluskey underwent shoulder surgery Thursday in Alabama and will miss the entire season. The surgery was originally scheduled for Tuesday, but postponed for additional examination. ... Guzman's triple was his first of the year after he led the majors and set a Twins record with 20 last season.  Send this story to a friend
| RECAPS Toronto 11 Tampa Bay 0
Minnesota 9
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