DETROIT ? Craig Monroe thought his mental mistake had cost the Detroit Tigers a victory.

Fortunately for him, he got a chance to redeem himself.

Monroe hit a game-winning single in the 10th inning, giving the Tigers a 6-5 victory Sunday over the Minnesota Twins.

In the eighth, Monroe made a throwing error from left field that helped the Twins tie the game and send it into extra innings.

“I felt terrible because I knew it was not smart baseball,” said Monroe, who threw a ball into the dugout while trying to double a runner off first. “This year, Tigers baseball is about playing like professionals.”

Rondell White walked with one out in the 10th, and pinch-runner Andres Torres stole second. Monroe followed with a line-drive single to left off Joe Roa (1-1) to give the Tigers their fifth win in six games.

Detroit started last season 0-9 en route to an AL-record 119 losses. It took the Tigers 30 games to get their fifth victory in 2003.

“Obviously, no one expected us to start 5-1, but here we are,” Tigers manager Alan Trammell said. “We just hope this good feeling continues for a while. We aren’t calling ourselves World Series contenders yet — we know we have a long way to go — but we are enjoying this.”

Roa blamed himself for starting the winning rally by walking White.

Detroit's Craig Monroe, right, hugs Carlos Pena as teammate Bobby Higginson, left, joins the celebration after Monroe's game-winning single in the 10th inning against Minnesota. The Tigers beat the Twins, 6-5, Sunday in Detroit.

“That’s one of my strengths, throwing strikes, then to throw four balls,” he said. “That’s not the way you want to go out there like that, walk a guy in that situation.”

Steve Colyer (1-0) got his first major-league win with an inning of scoreless relief. Minnesota used seven pitchers while Detroit used six.

Minnesota starter Johan Santana allowed three runs on five hits in five innings, but needed 94 pitches. Tigers starter Mike Maroth gave up three runs in 61/3 innings.

“I didn’t get the win, but we did, and that’s all that matters,” said Maroth, who lost 21 games last year to become the first pitcher to reach 20 losses since 1980.

Red Sox 6, Blue Jays 4, 12 innings

Boston — Mark Bellhorn hit a tying single in the ninth inning and David Ortiz had a two-run homer in the 12th, leading the Red Sox.

Curt Schilling, obtained from Arizona in a Nov. 28 trade, allowed four runs and six hits in eight innings, struck out 10 and walked none in his first home game at Fenway Park for the Red Sox.

Eric Hinske’s first homer of the year gave Toronto a 4-2 lead in the sixth against Schilling.

AL batting champion Bill Mueller, in an 0-for-19 skid, walked leading off the 12th against Aquilino Lopez (0-1), and Ortiz followed with a drive to center for his third homer of the season.

Mark Malaska (1-0) pitched two innings for the win, retiring the side in order in the 12th.

Yankees 5, White Sox 4

New York — Mike Mussina got his 200th win, and rookie Bubba Crosby hit a three-run homer for New York.

Gary Sheffield drove in two runs to help the Yankees kick-start their offense a bit and gain a split of the four-game series.

After going 3-3 on their road trip, the White Sox head to Chicago for their home opener Tuesday against Kansas City.

Mussina (1-2) was coming off two poor starts against Tampa Bay and survived a poor first inning to become the 100th major-league pitcher to reach 200 wins. It took him five tries.

Devil Rays 10, Orioles 1

St. Petersburg, Fla. — Victor Zambrano won his third game of the season by allowing one run over 6 1/3 innings for Tampa Bay.

Zambrano (3-0) gave up seven hits, two walks and struck out six. He pitched out of trouble throughout, holding the Orioles to 2-for-12 with runners in scoring position.

The right-hander is the first starting pitcher to win three times through his team’s first seven games since Kevin Appier accomplished the feat for Kansas City in 1995.

Aubrey Huff, Jose Cruz Jr. and Tino Martinez homered for the Devil Rays.

Angels 7, Rangers 2

Arlington, Texas — Bartolo Colon allowed two runs and seven hits over eight innings, and Vladimir Guerrero homered as Anaheim’s two prized free agent acquisitions led the Angels. Colon (2-0) struck out five and walked one, allowing just one earned run.

Chan Ho Park (0-2) gave up six runs and 10 hits over six-plus innings for the Rangers, whose three-game winning streak ended. Park struck out five and walked one.

Mariners 9, Athletics,

10 innings

Oakland, Calif. — Seattle avoided matching the worst start in franchise history, rallying with two runs in the ninth to tie and getting a two-run homer by Bret Boone in a five-run 10th inning.

The Mariners broke open the game against a shaky Chris Hammond (1-1) in the 10th to avoid matching their 0-6 start in 1991. The winningest team in baseball the last four seasons became the final team to get its first win in 2004.