DETROIT _ If there is anyone who can figure out how to handle opponents with his best fastball, it's Twins right-hander Ervin Santana. But he has to be nearly perfect.
He clicked at times on Friday, like when he finished James McCann and JaCoby Jones in the fifth with 88-mph fastballs that were up and above the strike zone. But there were a couple of pitches that were misfired and went home with a fan.
The Tigers, who were struggling offensively before Friday, hit a pair of two-run homers on the way to a 5-3 win over the Twins in the first game of the three-game series at Comerica Park.
Santana, making his fourth start since returning from finger surgery in February, gave up just three hits and walked two. But two of the three hits were home runs and both walks scored on the homers. It's the way things are going for Santana as all of his pitches _ his fastball, slider and change-up _ are 3 mph slower since the surgery.
To compensate for the lack of velocity, Santana has increased his change usage, hoping to get hitters off balance. It worked for a while, and the Twins gave him a 1-0 lead in the third when Logan Forsythe scored on Niko Goodrum's throwing error.
Santana allowed just one hit the first time through the order, a triple by JaCoby Jones in the third. Jones scored on a sacrifice fly by Mike Gerber.
Santana issued a one-out walk to Jeimer Candelario in the fourth then tried to throw a slider down and away to Goodrum that flipped over the middle of the plate. Goodrum, a second-round pick of the Twins in 2010, drove it into the seats in right as Detroit took a 3-1 lead.
The sequence was repeated, unintentionally, with two outs in the fifth. Mike Gerber drew a walk. Santana tried to throw a fastball away to Jose Iglesias but it slid over the plate. And Iglesias swatted it out to left, taking a couple moments to admire his fifth homer of the season.
The Twins scored a run in the sixth, when Forsythe scored on Mitch Garver's sacrifice fly, and closed to 5-3 in the ninth on Ehire Adrianza's RBI double.
In four outings, Santana is 0-1 with a 6.53 ERA. And he will keep taking the ball as he figures out how to get his mojo back.
Tigers right-hander Jordan Zimmermann, 5-4, held the Twins to two unearned runs over 62/3 innings on eight hits while striking out one. And the Tigers snapped a six-game losing streak.
