They may be out of the race, but the Tigers aren't out of energy or effort.

Detroit rallied from a 7-3 deficit with four runs in the eighth inning Thursday, fell behind in the bottom of the inning and tied it in the ninth. The Tigers took a 9-8 lead in the 11th only to see the Twins tie it in the home half but finally scored again in the 13th and closed out the 10-9 victory with three quick outs.

"It was a heckuva effort," manager Jim Leyland said. "We hung in there. We made a couple of miscues but fought through it. We got some huge hits from a lot of different guys.

"It was a really nice win for us. We hung in there and snuck one."

Some of the same rookies who made mistakes in a 10-inning loss Wednesday were key contributors Thursday.

Will Rhymes, who muffed a potential double-play throw that led to three Minnesota runs in the fifth, finished the four-run eighth with a two-out, two-run single up the middle to tie the score at 7-7. He also contributed a key run-and-hit single in the hole that led to a run in the fifth.

Casper Wells hit his first major league home run leading off the ninth to tie the score at 8-8. He entered the game when Miguel Cabrera was taken out with a sore left biceps.

Austin Jackson had three straight hits, walked twice, reached on an error and scored three times.

Don Kelly, who isn't a rookie but is a career minor-leaguer spending his first full season in the majors, led off the second with a home run. Overall, Detroit hit five home runs in a park not thought to be conducive to the long ball.

Alex Avila was thrown out at the plate trying to score from second on a single, but his single following Ryan Raburn's home run in the eighth started a rally that netted two more runs in the inning.

"Anybody who questions the effort or energy on this team is crazy," Leyland said. "I think you saw that. We could have packed it in and got on the plane to Kansas City.

"Energy is not going to be a problem. The bullpen might be a little bit of a problem, I'll have to watch that. But effort is no problem here."

Gerald Laird got the winning home run, and Jhonny Peralta opened the four-run eighth with a home run.

"These guys are trying to show that they belong here for next year," Leyland said. "Veterans are trying to get contracts. Young guys are trying to show what they can do. Motivation should not be an issue.

"We're going to work our butts off, and that's just the way it is. It's not such a bad situation. It's just not as good as it was three months ago when we had our team all together."

TIGERS 10, TWINS 9 (13 innings): Detroit thumped five solo home runs, the last of which was by Gerald Laird in the 13th inning to give the Tigers enough runs to win. Jose Valverde worked the last three innings, blowing a save in the 11th but retiring eight of the last nine hitters he faced in a 38-pitch outing. Justin Verlander was cuffed for 10 hits in six innings and allowed six runs, but three were unearned in the fifth as the result of 2B Will Rhymes muffing a potential double-play throw from the pitcher for an error.

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