Tigers 8, Twins 6: Torii Hunter and Miguel Cabrera began the ninth inning with back-to-back homers as visiting Detroit squandered a six-run lead before knocking off Minnesota in the opener of their three-game series.

Andrew Romine went 3-for-4 with two RBIs while Cabrera and J.D. Martinez each recorded three hits and drove in a run for the American League Central-leading Tigers, who pounded out half of their 16 hits for extra bases and remained 1 1/2 games ahead of Kansas City. Kyle Ryan (2-0) induced an inning-ending double play in the eighth and Joakim Soria worked around a leadoff double in the ninth for his 18th save.

Joe Mauer collected two hits and four RBIs while Oswaldo Arcia homered for the Twins, who have lost 17 of their last 22 contests. Trevor Plouffe also drove in a run and Casey Fien (5-6) was tagged with the loss as he served up the blasts by Hunter and Cabrera after Minnesota rallied from a 6-0 deficit.

Detroit took an early lead as Victor Martinez followed Cabrera's double with one of the ground-rule variety before scoring on J.D. Martinez's single to make it 2-0. The Tigers extended the advantage with three runs in the fourth, when Bryan Holaday delivered an RBI double before Romine plated two with a single.

Nick Castellanos drew a bases-loaded walk from reliever A.J. Achter in the fifth for a six-run cushion, but Minnesota began its comeback in the bottom half on Arcia's one-out solo homer. Mauer stroked a two-run single in the sixth and scored on Plouffe's sacrifice fly two batters later before tying the game with another two-run base hit in the eighth.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Detroit's Max Scherzer labored through seven innings, allowing four runs and seven hits while striking out five. Minnesota's Anthony Swarzak lasted 4 1/3 frames after yielding six runs and 11 hits. ... The Tigers improved to 7-6 in the season series with the Twins. ... Detroit has reached double digits in hits in 10 of its 13 meetings with Minnesota.