DETROIT — The AL Central race got even wilder.

Orlando Cabrera hit a go-ahead single in the 10th inning after a pair of wild pitches and the Minnesota Twins closed within one game of first-place Detroit, beating the Tigers 3-2 Tuesday in the opener of a day-night doubleheader.
The Twins trailed Detroit by seven games only two weeks ago. But Minnesota would pull even with a sweep — Tigers ace Justin Verlander was set to pitch against Brian Duensing in the nightcap.
Minnesota clinched the season series 10-5 against Detroit, meaning a division tiebreaker would be at the Metrodome. Because Brett Favre and the Vikings host Green Bay on Monday night at the stadium, a baseball playoff would likely be pushed back until Tuesday.
A rainout Monday night delayed the start of this four-game series and forced a doubleheader. Each team has six games left.
It was tight throughout at Comerica Park. Scrapping for a run, the teams combined for five sacrifice bunts and used three pinch-runners.
The Twins missed a chance to take the lead in the ninth when Nick Punto popped up a suicide-squeeze bunt, resulting in a double play. Speedy Minnesota right fielder Denard Span made a fine running catch on Ramon Santiago’s deep drive toward the line with a runners on second and two outs in the bottom half, leaving it tied at 1-all.
Span led off the 10th with a single. He advanced on consecutive wild pitches by Brandon Lyon (6-5), who had thrown just one wild pitch all season.
Cabrera followed with a single and Delmon Young added a bases-loaded sacrifice fly for a 3-1 lead.
Curtis Granderson hit a leadoff homer against Joe Nathan in the Tigers 10th. Nathan retired the next three batters for his 45th save — he is 30-for-30 in career save tries against Detroit.
Jon Rauch (4-1) walked Carlos Guillen to start the bottom of the ninth, and Gerald Laird bunted pinch-runner Wilkin Ramirez to second. Brandon Inge hit a shallow flyout and Span ran down Santiago’s liner on the warning track.
Both starters finished with no-decisions. Tigers rookie Rick Porcello allowed one run in 6 1-3 innings, while Nick Blackburn gave up one run in seven innings.
The Tigers stranded seven runners in the first four innings, getting their only run on Santiago’s single in the second off first baseman Michael Cuddyer’s glove.
Minnesota tied the game in the fifth when Matt Tolbert led off with a double, took third on one of the Twins’ four sacrifice bunts and scored on Span’s sacrifice fly.
By that point, Blackburn had settled down, retiring the Tigers in order in the fifth, sixth and seventh innings.
Minnesota had another chance as Porcello tired in the seventh. Jose Morales led off with a single under second baseman Placido Polanco’s glove and Tolbert bunted him to second.
The 20-year Porcello left to a standing ovation after walking Punto on his 111th pitch — seven more than his previous career high. Zach Miner got Span to pop out to shallow right, then struck out Cabrera to end the inning with Joe Mauer on deck.
NOTES: The announced attendance for the first game was 35,243, which reflected the tickets sold for Monday night. Tuesday’s actual crowd appeared to be closer to 25,000. ... The teams played through drizzle during the early innings, but there was no rain close to that which caused Monday’s postponement. ... No major league team has remained in first place from May 10 — or sooner — until losing the division title in the last week of a season, according to STATS.