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MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – The Minnesota Twins hitting home runs? It's a surprise to them. And they almost sound embarrassed by it. David Ortiz and Brian Buchanan hit three-run shots Tuesday night to lead Minnesota to an 8-2 win over the Detroit Tigers. "It's nice to hit home runs once in a while," manager Tom Kelly said. "We don't like to talk about it much. We just want to go out there and have some good swings and let the cards fall where they may." The Twins, whose 116 home runs last year were last in the majors by 28, have hit 10 in seven games. Eric Milton (1-0) was glad to see them. "A couple of three-run homers sure makes my job easier. I'll take it," said Milton, who worked six innings and gave up six hits, including Bobby Higginson's two-run homer in the third. "I give up two, and then we come back and get four," Milton said. Tom Prince tied the game at 2 with a single in the third. Then Ortiz, who drove in a career-high four runs, followed singles by Luis Rivas and Matt Lawton with a 425-foot shot to right field. Ortiz has three home runs. He hit 10 last season in 415 at-bats. "I know I have some power, but I haven't been thinking about it," Ortiz said. "We just go out there and play the game." Matt Perisho (0-1) gave up five runs in 4 1/3 innings, yielding six hits and a walk. Perisho, who replaced the injured Brian Moehler in the rotation, has given up 21 runs in 24 2/3 career innings against Minnesota. He shares the Twins' sentiments about their status as a home-run hitting team. "I made two bad pitches out of 74," Perisho said. "Ortiz is a power hitter, but most of the rest are basically table-setters. If you're going to get beat, this was tough." Rivas, who had four hits to raise his average to .286, singled to chase Perisho with one out in the fifth. Heath Murray, called up earlier in the day from Triple-A Toledo, walked Ortiz with two outs and then surrendered Buchanan's first hit of the year, a three-run shot to left that made it 8-2. "That's a good way to break the ice with my first hit," said Buchanan of his second career homer. "It's a good way to put runs on the board, but I don't think anyone considers us a home-run hitting team. We try to hit the ball in the gap, go the other way, and fortunately a lot of them have been going over the fence." Detroit put nine runners on against Milton – all with two outs. Tony Clark, 10-for-22 in his career against Milton, had two hits. "I felt all right, but I'm not where I want to be yet," he said. "I didn't throw enough strikes. But I just made one mistake. After that, I just tried to settle down and throw up zeros." Milton picked up just his second career victory against the Tigers, but his career ERA against them is 2.85. Milton, in his fourth season, has impressed Detroit manager Phil Garner with his progress. "This is about the time they start to come into their own," Garner said. "I think for sure this could be a breakout year for him. He's always pitched well against us. I think he's going to be tough." The Twins, who have outscored the Tigers 31-14 in four victories this year, improved to 5-2 for the first time since 1989. Last year, it took them 15 games to reach five wins. Garner wasn't that impressed that the Twins are hitting so well. "Heck, they should be," Garner said. "We're putting it on a tee for them." Each of Detroit's losses so far have come to Minnesota. "They're a pesky team," Perisho said. "Pesky people don't go away." Especially when they're hitting home runs. Game notesTo make room for Murray, Detroit designated IF Jermaine Clark for assignment. ... Since 1996, the Tigers have a 45-85 record in April. ... Bobby Kielty made his major league debut in center field for Minnesota, going 0-for-3. ... The Twins collected 10 or more hits for the fourth time. ... The Twins have scored nine unearned runs in their last three games against the Tigers. ... Minnesota's Jacques Jones was hitless for the first time this year. ... After drawing more than 46,000 Monday, the Twins' attendance at the Metrodome dropped to 9,130. Last year, the Twins suffered a 36,000-fan dropoff between home games one and two.  Send this story to a friend
| RECAPS Boston 10 Baltimore 1
Minnesota 8
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