--1B Miguel Cabrera was removed from the game after the fifth inning because of left biceps tendinitis. Cabrera is listed as day-to-day but probably won't play when Detroit opens a weekend series in Kansas City. "Evidently he felt it two or three days ago," manager Jim Leyland said. "It flared up on him a little bit on a swing, so I had to get him out of there."

--LF Ryan Raburn, still nursing a sore left shoulder that kept him out of the starting lineup, had a solo home run as a pinch hitter in the eighth inning, then had singles on his next two swings to help keep Detroit alive long enough for a 13-inning win. Raburn's second single gave Detroit a 9-8 lead in the 11th. He has 11 home runs, and most of those are in the last five weeks.

--RHP Jose Valverde pitched three innings for the first time this year but retired eight of the last nine hitters he faced. Valverde struggled upon entering the game in the 11th, throwing five straight balls before giving up a single. But were it not for a bobble by 3B Brandon Inge on a double-play grounder, Valverde would have been out of the inning, and had 2B Will Rhymes not bumped into SS Ramon Santiago on a second double-play grounder, the tying run would not have scored and Valverde would have had a save. He got the win in the 13th when C Gerald Laird hit a home run. Valverde showed a very sharp split-finger fastball and was spotting his fastball effectively again, especially in the 12th and 13th. He threw 38 pitches, the fourth time this season he's exceeded 30.

--CF Austin Jackson was on base six times and scored three runs. He singled, tripled and singled his first three times up, then walked and reached on an error in his next two at-bats. Jackson scored three runs.

--RF Casper Wells collected his first major league home run, a leadoff shot in the ninth that forced extra innings. "I got it good, but I was just hoping it was enough to get it up there," Wells said. "It was pretty thrilling to get a run on the board and tie up the game. I was watching (the ball) the whole time." Wells has given Detroit's offense a pick-me-up over the last week.

--2B Will Rhymes had a pair of singles to stretch his hitting streak to 10 games. Rhymes muffed a potential double-play throw for an error that led to three Minnesota runs in the fifth but atoned for that in part with a two-run single in the eighth that tied the score at 7-7. Defensively, he also failed to turn a double play when he bumped into SS Ramon Santiago while Minnesota was scoring the tying run in the bottom of the 11th.

--INF Jhonny Peralta played first base for the first time in his major league career from the eighth inning on. Peralta had a solo home run and a single to extend his hitting streak to 10 games. Peralta opened the game at third, but when 3B Brandon Inge entered as a pinch hitter in the eighth, Peralta went across the diamond in the bottom of the inning. Regular 1B Miguel Cabrera left the game after the top of the sixth because of left biceps tendinitis. UT Don Kelly played first for two innings, but he was pinch-hit for in the eighth. Peralta had played short and third exclusively in his career.

--C Gerald Laird hit the game-winning home run in the 13th inning. Laird did not start but entered as a pinch hitter when manager Jim Leyland felt a bunt was in order in the 11th and that starting C Alex Avila was not the one to do it. "I came into the game late," Laird said. "I got a good bunt down. This is the kind of win we needed to win to get things going here."

--RHP Justin Verlander had trouble keeping his fastball down and got nicked for 10 hits in just six innings. Verlander had good velocity, but too many fastballs were up in the hitting zone, and his curveball was a little erratic. He gave up six runs, but three were unearned in the fifth inning. 2B Will Rhymes whiffed on Verlander's throw to second on a potential inning-ending double-play ball, letting Minnesota break a 3-3 tie. Verlander allowed a sacrifice fly and two more singles before closing out the inning. "He just didn't command his fastball," manager Jim Leyland said.

--RHP Jeremy Bonderman will make his start at Kansas City on schedule Friday. Bonderman missed a turn, with rookie RHP Alfredo Figaro taking his place, with tightness in his right rib cage. Bonderman threw on the side earlier this week and reported he felt good to go.

BY THE NUMBERS
4 -- Detroit players with three consecutive seasons of 300 or more total bases after 1B Miguel Cabrera doubled in the first inning Aug. 29. Cabrera joined Hall of Famers 1B/OF Hank Greenberg, 2B Charlie Gehringer and OF Harry Heilman in that grouping.

QUOTE TO NOTE
"I think it sends the wrong message to say, 'Well, here's an opportunity to jump ship.' I'm not going to do it, not to these guys. I love Detroit and I love the fans. The tough thing is, there's no guarantee where I'll be next year. As much as I'd love to be back here, that's something the team doesn't really decide until the offseason. And I'm OK with that." -- DH/LF Johnny Damon, on part of his reasoning behind rejecting an offer to accept a waiver claim and return to Boston. The Red Sox were one of 21 teams Damon could refuse to go to as part of his Detroit contract.

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