Minneapolis, MN -- (Sports Network) - Justin Morneau hit a grand slam and Francisco Liriano ran his unbeaten streak to seven games since being called up from Triple-A, as the Minnesota Twins easily disposed of the Detroit Tigers, 10-2, in the opener of a three-game set from the Metrodome.

Liriano (5-3) yielded just two runs on five hits while fanning nine and walking only one batter over seven-plus frames. Delmon Young and Brian Buscher both drove in a pair of runs for the Twins, who saw their three-game slide come to an end.

"I'm just trying to keep it simple and use the whole field," Morneau said. "And I end up getting extended on a ball and hit it just enough to go (over the fence)."

The Twins, who were playing at home for the first time since August 20 following a grueling 14-game road trip, are 1 1/2 games behind the Chicago White Sox for the lead in the AL Central. The White Sox beat the Angels 10-2 on Friday.

Marcus Thames clubbed two home runs for Detroit, which has dropped four of its last five. Armando Galarraga (12-5) took the loss, as he was tagged for six runs on three hits with four strikeouts and six walks in six innings of work.

"They got six hits and we got five, but we walked eight guys and they didn't walk people," Tigers manager Jim Leyland. "I wouldn't take anything away from Liriano, he pitched extremely well. Like I said, it was simple: they pitched better than we did."

The Twins jumped on top in the first inning as Galarraga walked Denard Span, Alexi Casilla and Morneau to load the bases. A Jason Kubel sacrifice fly put the Twins on the board.

With one gone in the fourth, Young deposited a 1-2 Galarraga slider over the fence in center, the first hit of the game for Minnesota, to put the Twins up 2-0.

Thames launched a 3-1 fastball over the fence in center in the fifth to pull the Tigers within a run at 2-1.

Minnesota grabbed a 6-1 lead in the fifth inning. Carlos Gomez led off the frame with a double to left before Span lined out to Placido Polanco at second base. Casilla and Mauer were both walked, which set the stage for Morneau's grand slam to deep right.

Freddy Dolsi took over for Detroit in the seventh and walked lead-off man Span. Casilla then grounded into a force, stole second base and scored as Joe Mauer slapped a single to left. Casey Fossum was then summoned from the bullpen.

Morneau popped up for the second out, but Kubel worked a walk to keep the inning going. Young added an RBI double and Buscher closed out the scoring with a two-run single, making it 10-1.

Thames opened the eighth with his second homer of the game.

Game Notes

The team's combined for 11 hits and nine walks...The Tigers stranded three runners and the Twins four...Minnesota has won 11 of its 16 matchups with the Tigers this season, including six of the seven games played at the Metrodome...Time of game was 2:33.