Twins manager Ron Gardenhire is still talking about Thursday’s win, during which the Twins took an early lead, fell behind 6-2 but chipped away for a comeback win. Given the three losses at Boston earlier in the week, another loss would have been tough to take.

You get the sense that when Gardenhire looks down his bench, he likes what he sees.

“Yesterday was a big ballgame. I really felt that,” he said. “The way it went down. And that says nothing about what’s going to happen tonight.

“We got down and you can see which way the guys what to go with this. And there was no quit in that baseball team. That’s all I care about. We kept grinding and kept rooting for each other. And that’s why I’m impressed with this baseball team.

“We were like, `Get one here. Get one there. Good at-bats, boys.’ And we just kept grinding. And I really enjoyed that game. It got me fired up on the bench. I try to be as calm as I can but I was pacing. That’s because it was exciting the way the guys were into it.”

The coaching staff spent batting practice figuring which relievers were able to pitch tonight, but it would help if Glen Perkins goes seven strong innings. “He knows,” Gardenhire said.

Since his recall on June 30, Denard Span is batting .467, fifth best in the majors. Justin Morneau, by the way, is third at .474.

 Morneau on Thursday was the first player to go 5 for 5 with an extra-inning home run since Tony Perez of the Reds did it on Sept. 21, 1973.

Again, I can’t stress enough how much Gardy’s eyes are twinkling today.

“You look at (Boston) and you look at (Detroit), they are two of the best teams in the league. There are two of the teams here, Detroit and Boston, that were supposed to win their divisions. So were not playing patsies here and we are playing with them. Toe to toe, Nose to nose. Muhammad Ali!”

Lineups

Twins (51-41): 1. Carlos Gomez, CF. 2. Alexi Casilla, 2B. 3. Joe Mauer, C. 4. Justin Morneau, 1B. 5. Jason Kubel, DH. 6. Delmon Young, LF. 7. Brian Buscher, 3B. 8. Nick Punto, SS. 9. Denard Span, RF. Pitching: Glen Perkins.

Detroit (46-45): 1. Curtis Granderson, CF. 2. Placido Polanco, 2B. 3. Carlos Guillen, 3B. 4. Miguel Cabrera, 1B. 5, Marcus Thames, LF. 6. Gary Sheffield, DH. 7. Matt Joyce, RF. 8. Ivan Rodriguez, C. 9. Ramon Santiago, SS. Pitching Armando Galarraga.Â

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