.vresize.36.36.medium.0.png){kind=small}
.vresize.36.36.medium.0.png){kind=small}
Seven-run 7th inning sparks Tigers to third straight victory
DETROIT (AP) -- Gene Lamont felt a little nervous when he found out he'd be managing the Detroit Tigers for a night.
"It's been quite a while," he said.
With Brad Ausmus sitting out a one-game suspension, Lamont guided the Tigers to a 7-2 victory over the Minnesota Twins on Tuesday night. Ian Kinsler and J.D. Martinez hit consecutive homers during a seven-run seventh inning.
Ausmus was suspended one game for his tirade Monday, when he was ejected during Detroit's 10-8 win. But since their manager's frustration boiled over, the Tigers have enjoyed mostly positive developments on the field. The win Tuesday was Detroit's third in a row since losing 11 of its previous 12.
Lamont, the team's bench coach, managed the rest of Monday's game after Ausmus' ejection, but taking over from the start Tuesday was a different scenario. He said he found out he'd be filling in for Ausmus about 90 minutes before the game.
"I'm not going to lie," he said. "I'd like to say, `Oh, I was cool as heck.' But I was a little nervous."
Lamont managed the Chicago White Sox from 1992-95 and the Pittsburgh Pirates from 1997-2000.
Minnesota's Phil Hughes took a shutout into the seventh but was lifted after allowing Miguel Cabrera's triple and Victor Martinez's sacrifice fly. The Twins needed three relievers to get the final two outs of the inning as Detroit broke through in a big way.
Kyle Ryan (1-1) got the win in relief, and Michael Tonkin (1-2) took the loss.
Joe Mauer and Miguel Sano homered for Minnesota.
Hughes entered with a 6.44 ERA and tied for the big league lead in losses with six, and he had allowed 11 runs over six innings in his previous two starts. He breezed into the seventh with a 2-0 lead, but after the Tigers scored a run, he was pulled after only 75 pitches.
"He's been having some fatigue in his shoulder for a little while now," Twins manager Paul Molitor said. "Before that inning, he told us that we needed to keep an eye on him."
Tonkin allowed hits to his first three hitters, then struck out James McCann for the second out. With the score tied at 2, Trevor May came on and allowed hits to all four hitters he faced, including a tiebreaking two-run single by Jose Iglesias, a two-run homer by Kinsler and a solo shot by J.D. Martinez.
Detroit sent 11 batters to the plate in the inning.
Hughes allowed a run and three hits in 6 1/3 innings. Mike Pelfrey -- who left the Twins to sign with Detroit in the offseason -- yielded two runs and seven hits in 5 1/3 innings.
Mauer opened the scoring with a solo homer in the fifth, and Sano added his the following inning.
NOWHERE TO BE FOUND
Pelfrey said he didn't realize Ausmus was suspended at first.
"I had no idea. I kind of pace back and forth in the dugout, and I didn't see him in there, and I had no idea why he wasn't in there," Pelfrey said. "I thought he went to the restroom or something. I had no idea, until the third or fourth inning and I kept slipping over there and I knew he wasn't there. I knew something happened, and I figured it had something to do with (Monday)."
TRANSACTION
The Twins recalled left-hander Taylor Rogers from Triple-A Rochester and optioned right-hander Jose Berrios to Rochester.
TRAINER'S ROOM
Twins: RHP Kyle Gibson (shoulder) is expected to throw to live hitters Thursday.
Tigers: RHP Shane Greene (right middle finger) threw a bullpen session Tuesday.
UP NEXT
Twins: Minnesota sends RHP Ricky Nolasco (1-1) to the mound for Wednesday's series finale.
Tigers: Detroit counters with RHP Justin Verlander (2-4). The Tigers will try for a three-game sweep -- they are 5-0 against Minnesota so far this season.
