Twins Take the Lead in Wild-Card Race

DETROIT — Justin Morneau chose the right time to reach a milestone.

Morneau hit a go-ahead, two-run homer in the eighth inning -- becoming the first Minnesota player with 30 homers in almost two decades -- to lift the Twins to a 4-3 win over the Detroit Tigers on Wednesday night. With the win, the Twins took a slim lead over the Chicago White Sox in the American League wild-card race.

“That was a nice moment for our baseball team,” Minnesota Manager Ron Gardenhire said. “We had a little ceremony where we gave him the ball after the game. He couldn’t have picked a better time to do it either.”

Johan Santana won his fourth decision in a row and Luis Castillo matched a career high with four hits and had three stolen bases for Minnesota, which has lost only one of its last seven games.

The Tigers lost a series for the first time since July 3-5 at Oakland.

Before the game, Minnesota announced it would put pitcher Francisco Liriano on the 15-day disabled list today and recalled Boof Bonser from triple-A Rochester.