MINNEAPOLIS _ It was a quiet afternoon Thursday at Target Field.
From the sparse crowd to the lack of offense, it was an eerie scene for late September baseball in a pennant race. With only hundreds of people in attendance, every crack of the bat could be heard. Every pitch seemed to pop the mitt.
Then, with one out in the seventh inning, it was loud.
It was another Justin Upton home run, a solo shot to deep left-center field at an estimated 444 feet, and it keyed the Tigers to a big 9-2 win over the Twins in the matinee of a day-night doubleheader.
Upton's home run was his 26th of the season and 13th since Aug. 21, tied for second-most in the Major Leagues during that span. Of those 13 home runs, seven have tied the game or given the Tigers the lead.
This one, on a 3-1 fastball against right-hander Alex Wimmers, was the latest.
Until the Upton home run, righty Anibal Sanchez gave the Tigers what they needed with five solid innings, matching Twins spot-starting lefty Pat Dean.
The Tigers opened the scoring quickly, when Cameron Maybin doubled off the right-center field wall and came around to score on a Miguel Cabrera groundball double play.
Sanchez coughed up the lead on his first batter faced when Brian Dozier hit his 42nd home run of the season into the left-field seats. It was Dozier's second home run in as many starts against Sanchez, and it set an American League record.
It was his 40th of the season as a second baseman _ he has hit two as a designated hitter _ the most in league history.
The next batter, Jorge Polanco, doubled. Sanchez would allow no more hits, pulled after the fifth inning. He struck out four and walked one.
Sanchez was relieved by Alex Wilson, who pitched a scoreless sixth inning before allowing a double and walk in the seventh. Wilson was relieved by Shane Greene, who walked a batter to load the bases loaded but kept the Twins off the board, inducing a flyout to right field to end the inning.
The Tigers tacked on an insurance run in the eighth inning when Andrew Romine singled, stole second base and advanced to third on an errant throw, then scored on a Jose Iglesias sacrifice fly.
Greene allowed a run on a Polanco double the next half inning, but stranded the tying run on third base by striking out Miguel Sano.
The Tigers blew the game open in the ninth inning. First, righty reliever Pat Light airmailed an intentional ball and Upton scored from third base. Then, Victor Martinez came off the bench to pinch-hit and smacked a three-run home run. It was Martinez's first at-bat since Sunday. He missed the previous two games with right knee soreness. They added two more.
With the win, the Tigers pull within a half game of the Orioles for the second AL wild-card spot. Ace righty Justin Verlander can pull them even with a win in the nightcap.
