Twins-Tigers Recap: AL Central Battle Has October Feel

The current four-game series between the Minnesota Twins and Detroit Tigers will determine who wins the AL Central. Both teams approached the first game of Tuesday's doubleheader as if it was October.

The game featured great pitching, exciting defensive plays and chess moves by the managers with less emphasis on offense.

It figures the game ended in extra innings with the Twins taking a 3-2 victory in 10 innings.

That's the way it should be in a game of this magnitude.

The Twins' Nick Blackburn and Tigers' Rick Porcello started the game and pitched well, each surviving early jams.

The bullpens kept the game 1-1.

It came down to Brandon Lyon and Joe Nathan.

Lyon and Nathan both struggled to throw strikes but, in the end, it was Lyon that got the loss and Nathan the save.

Lyon displayed awful command of his pitches and the Twins took advantage, getting hits and taking an extra base on wild throws.

Two runs in the 10th were good enough for the Twins.

Minnesota summoned Nathan to close the game with a lead. However, this was not going to be smooth sailing.

Curtis Granderson homered off the Twins' closer to make it a 3-2 game. Fans at Comerica Park in Detroit stood up to get the home team going and rattle the pitcher in the process.

When Nathan struggles, it's detectable for anyone to see. He throws nibblers and he takes his sweet time to pitch.

It showed again today.

Fortunately, Nathan's defense bailed him out. Carlos Gomez took a hit away from pesky Placido Polanco while Delmon Young held on to a hard hit ball by Ryan Raburn. Matt Tolbert made a great throw to get Miguel Cabrera out to end the game.

But no Twins defensive play stood out more than Denard Span's ninth-inning gem.

With a runner on second base with two outs, it looked like the game was going to be over after Ramon Santiago hit the ball hard to left. But Span saved the day with a great sliding catch.

Without that play, the game doesn't go to extras.

It's a good thing for Twins manager Ron Gardenhire and Nick Punto that Span came through with that play. If he does not, we would criticize Gardenhire for calling a squeeze play with one out in the ninth and Punto for failing to execute it.

Teams pay managers good money to make smart decisions late in the game. Detroit skipper Jim Leyland and Gardenhire made moves that impacted the game.

Gardenhire used Jose Mijares and Jon Rauch as his relievers—both did their jobs.

Gardy's best move came in the eighth inning when Gomez pinch-ran for Jason Kubel. Despite Gomez's deficiencies at the plate, he brings value to the team with his defense.

And defense is always big late in the game.

Leyland used the mix-and-match method with his relievers and it worked. What did not work was him leaving Lyon out in the 10th despite his struggles in the ninth.

Not much offense in this game, but that's to be expected.

Baseball is, and always will be, about pitching and defense. It comes down to which pitcher survives and who makes the great plays.

The Twins lost Game 163 last year because John Danks did not make mistakes and Ken Griffey Jr. made a great throw to get Michael Cuddyer out at home.

Today, the Twins did some of the same things, and that's why they celebrated when the game was over.