Continued: A Red Dog assist for late Twins rally

Twins backup catcher Mike Redmond can impact a game even when he's on the bench nursing an injury. That's leadership.

Although Redmond was out because of a bruised right forearm on Saturday, his bats were on the field and pivotal in the Twins' 4-3 victory over the Tigers at the Metrodome.

Nick Punto and Brian Buscher used Redmond's bats and helped produce the winning run in the eighth inning, ending any concerns that the game was going to head into extra innings, as Friday night's 16-inning marathon did.

In his first three at-bats Saturday, Buscher struck out twice and busted a bat while popping out to short in the sixth inning. But in the eighth, he hit Brandon Lyon's first pitch to left-center for an opposite field single. Punto noted how Buscher tried to pull the ball in his previous at-bat, something Redmond rarely does.

"It's impossible for Redmond's bats to pull," Punto said.

With pinch runner Matt Tolbert at first, Jose Morales fouled off two bunt attempts. Down to his last strike, he calmly hit a slow bouncer to second base, enabling Tolbert to advance to second and bringing Punto to the plate.

Punto, who entered the game batting .209, used Redmond's bats on Saturday to change his luck. Lyon jammed Punto with a pitch, but Punto lifted it over shortstop Adam Everett's head.

For a moment, it looked as if Everett could jump and catch the floater. Tolbert never had a doubt.

"We read that stuff in batting practice, and after seeing so many balls off the bat, you know," Tolbert said. "I took off and there was no going back."

Tolbert was waved home and slid in just ahead of Dusty Ryan's tag at the plate. "That was a heck of a read by Tolbert," Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said.

The run made a winner of Matt Guerrier (4-0), who pitched the eighth inning in relief of Francisco Liriano. Joe Nathan pitched the ninth to earn his 22nd save.

For six innings, Liriano pitched as close to his capabilities has he has all season, retiring 13 Detroit batters in a row at one point.

Thanks to homers by Michael Cuddyer in the fourth and Justin Morneau in the fifth, the Twins led 2-0 when Liriano took the mound in the seventh.

Marcus Thames and Ryan Raburn singled on Liriano's first two pitches of the inning. Liriano struck out Brandon Inge, but then his first pitch to Magglio Ordonez soared over the center-field wall for a three-run homer, only Ordonez's fourth of the year.

Liriano bent over in anguish. Still, Gardenhire approved of the outing: seven innings, five hits, two walks, eight strikeouts and 103 pitches.

"He was really frustrated after giving up that home run," Gardenhire said. "[But] you know what? That's the Liriano we need right there."

Besides, the Twins took Liriano off the hook in the bottom of the seventh when Morneau's RBI single tied the score at 3-3. Then Punto grabbed Redmond's stick in the eighth and won the game.

Punto walked, singled to center and got the game-winning hit in the eighth to raise his average to .218. Assist: Red Dog.

"He told me before the game started, 'You're guaranteed a single up the middle and a jam shot to left,' so it worked out," Punto said while Redmond snickered in the background.

Notice Redmond didn't predict any homers. Redmond hasn't hit a home run since May 13, 2007.

"His bats," Punto said, "don't do that."

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