MINNEAPOLIS - With the game tied in the bottom of the 10th inning, Chicago Cubs manager Dale Sveum packed the infield as tightly as he could to make it as hard as possible for Josh Willingham to find a hole. . The Minnesota Twins slugger found one anyway. Willingham ripped a single down the left-field line, scoring Darin Mastroianni to lift the Twins to an 8-7 victory on Friday night. It was Willinghams second game-ending hit in the last 10 days. "Willie just seems to have a flair for being up late in the game," Mastroianni said. Willingham hit a three-run homer in the bottom of the ninth to beat the As on May 29. He also singled and scored on Justin Morneaus ninth-inning triple Friday night, tying it at 7. Ryan Doumit and Trevor Plouffe homered for the Twins (23-34), who have won eight of their last 10 games as they try to climb out of the AL Central basement. "Winning brings confidence in everybody," Willingham said. "Weve been winning more lately, so everybodys more confident. I dont think we ever get down or feel like were out of a game when we get down a few runs early." Alfonso Soriano homered twice and had three RBIs and Starlin Castro added a homer and a triple for the Cubs, who have lost 19 of their last 23 games. Willinghams hit salvaged the night for the Twins after they wasted a chance to win the game in the ninth. Minnesota had the winning run at third base with nobody out after Morneaus tying triple against Shawn Camp (2-3). Sveum had Camp walk Chris Parmelee intentionally, then pulled left fielder Joe Mather in from the outfield and put him at second base as part of a jam-packed, drawn-in infield. Alexi Casilla hit a chopper to second baseman Darwin Barney, who got pinch-runner Denard Span at home plate to keep the game tied. Brian Dozier flew out to centre field to send the game to extra innings. Sveum went to the same configuration when Camp walked Darin Mastroianni before Ben Revere put down a sacrifice and Jamey Carroll reached on an infield hit to put runners on the corners with one out. But third baseman Ian Stewart had no chance on Willinghams hard-hit ball down the line, leaving the Twins to celebrate on the field. "I knew they brought an extra guy in the infield," Willingham said. "I wasnt paying attention to where they were. I was just trying to hit the ball somewhere." Matt Capps (1-3) pitched a scoreless 10th to pick up the win and Revere had three hits in the start for Span, who had an illness. It was another gut punch for the Cubs bullpen, which entered the night with the 24th-ranked ERA in the majors. Travis Wood gave up three runs and six hits in five innings, but Randy Wells allowed two runs and James Russell served up a solo homer to Doumit in the seventh that gave Minnesota a 6-5 lead. "I just went with the two best guys that Ive had all year," Sveum said of Russell and Camp. "Once we battled back there, with Russell and Camp youre going to run them to whatever their pitch count is in those situations." Soriano hit a two-run blast off Glen Perkins in the eighth inning for his 29th career multihomer game, putting the Cubs in front. The ball landed in the third deck in left field at spacious Target Field, an estimated 440 feet from home plate. Soriano also had a 431-foot solo homer in the first inning that put the Cubs up 2-0 and pumped up thousands of fans who made the trip from Chicagos North side. The last time these two teams played, the Twins visited Wrigley Field in 2009 and seemingly brought the entire Twin Cities with them. Twins fans took over the old yard and Cubs fans aimed to return the favour this weekend. Target Field was awash in Cubbie blue, even though there was no Old Style to be found. During the seventh-inning stretch, the throng thundered "root, root, root for the Cubbies!" and chanted "Lets Go Cubs!" after Sorianos homer in the eighth. Just like they have on most occasions at home this season, the Cubs fans left disappointed. NOTES: Sorianos first homer was the 350th of his career. ... Joe Mauer missed his fifth straight game with a sprained right thumb, but Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said Mauer was available to pinch hit and likely would return to the lineup on Saturday. ... Parmelee played after being called up from Triple-A Rochester earlier Friday. He took a spill over a railing and into the camera well while trying to chase down a fly ball in foul territory in the fourth inning, but wasnt hurt. ... The Twins signed second-round pick Mason Melotakis, a LHP from Northwestern State, and fourth-rounder Zach Jones, a RHP from San Jose State. ... The Twins send LHP Scott Diamond (4-1, 1.86) to the mound on Saturday for Game 2 against RHP Jeff Samardzija (5-3, 3.13). Diamond has pitched at least six innings in five of his six starts. Samardzija has been lights out at home, but is just 2-2 with a 4.45 ERA on the road. [url=http://www.ramsofficialteamstore.com/autographed-greg-zuerlein-jersey-xs-46... Zuerlein Jersey . On Sunday, they became the first Canadian club in MLS history to qualify for the post-season, completing a major turnaround. However, celebrations in Vancouver have been tempered by the way in which the Caps have stumbled towards the end of the year. .J. Green. No Brandon London. [url=http://www.ramsofficialteamstore.com/autographed-jake-long-jersey-wk-38.htm... . -- Tommy Milone experienced a most unusual wait to make his debut with the Oakland Athletics. [url=http://www.ramsofficialteamstore.com/autographed-nolan-cromwell-jersey-ly-5... Cromwell Jersey . The 22-year-old captured the spot on the podium by defeating 10th-ranked American Travis Stevens to become the first Canadian to win an Olympic medal in the sport since his coach Nicolas Gill won a silver at Sydney 2000. . There is no timetable for Tulowitzkis return, but he is likely to be sidelined for about two months. Tulowitzki was placed on the disabled list on May 31. He is hitting .287 this year with eight home runs and 27 RBI.UFA, RUSSIA – Jonathan Drouins play has been so good at the World Junior Championship that he will start Mondays game against the Russians on Canadas top line alongside centre Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and right winger Mark Scheifele. "We want to look at creating some more depth scoring and I think, right now, Jonathan Drouin has proven to us that hes capable of playing with players like Ryan and Mark and were going to give him an opportunity," head coach Steve Spott explained. That means the much-ballyhooed Lockout Line, which featured Nugent-Hopkins between Jonathan Huberdeau and Scheifele is, at least for the moment, no more. Huberdeau will now play on the left wing of the second line beside Niagara IceDogs centre Ryan Strome and Portland Winterhawks winger Ty Rattie. The fact that changes were made ahead of the Group B decider in Ufa is not a big surprise. Spott made it clear after Sundays 2-1 win against the Americans that he expected more from his elite players. "Our top six forwards were OK," Spott said. "I think the group that got our job done was our gritty, penalty-killing-type forwards. Those are the guys who got the job done and of course Malcolm Subban, but I think our top six, to a man, would agree that maybe theres more in the tank and were going to need more as we move forward." That Drouin, a 17-year-old, who was considered a longshot to make the team in the first place, got a promotion will certainly raise some eyebrows. But Spott believes Drouin, who has 19 goals and 29 assists in 24 games this season with the Halifax Mooseheads, has a swagger that has allowed him to excel on the big international stage. "He hasnt taken a step back," Spott said. "He feels hes a world-class player. Hes confident in his own game and his speed and his ability to protect the puck and handle the puck is something were looking for in that line and we just feel he can give us that dynamic." Drouin, who has a goal, two assists and a plus-4 rating at the tournament, is one of three draft-eligible players on the Canadian roster along with his Halifax linemate Nate MacKinnon and Kamloops Blazer JC Lipon, a 19-year-old who was passed over at the last two NHL drafts. Coming into the selection camp in early December it was MacKinnon, ranked either first or second, behind American defenceman Seth Jones, on many top-prospect lists, who garnered much of the attention. [url=http://www.ramsofficialteamstore.com/autographed-rodger-saffold-jersey-rv-6... Saffold Jersey. But MacKinnon has played mostly a fourth-line role at the tournament while Drouin has been up on the second-line with Strome. You can count Scheifele among the many people Drouin has impressed. The Winnipeg Jets prospect admits he didnt know much about Drouin until recently. "I actually had no idea until I saw him in the [Subway] Super Series and Im like, Man, this kids pretty good, and seeing him more and more, he was my roommate in Calgary, hes an unbelievable player and he has so much to bring to the table. Hes way ahead of his time. Being a 17-year-old you dont even think of him like that with the way he plays the game," Scheifele said. "Its unbelievable how good it is." Huberdeau, meanwhile, insists he has no problem being dropped down a line to make room for the younger Drouin. "Theres no surprise," said Huberdeau, one of six returning players on the team. "The coachs decide and they know what they want. I think its great." The Florida Panthers prospect is looking forward to playing beside Strome, who is tied for the tournament lead in goals with Finlands Markus Granlund. Both players have bulged the twine four times through three games. "Im just going to try and pass him the puck and hes scored every game so thats what Im going to try and do," said Huberdeau, who has four assists in the tournament. Canadas bottom two lines will also undergo a makeover with centre Boone Jenner done serving his three-game suspension and Lipon coming back from his one-game ban. Jenner will play in between Phillip Danault and Brett Ritchie while the fourth line will see Mark McNeill in between Anthony Camara and MacKinnon. Lipon is expected to start as the 13th forward. Spott outlined a few reasons why Jenners return is significant. "He brings more of a forecheck presence, again, we want to be an aggressive team on the forecheck and he gives you that element," Spott said. "Hes hard, hes a strong man, he plays physical, he protects the puck down low so I think he brings that that plus limiting other guys from having to kill too many penalties. Weve had a lot of guys do double duty the last couple of games so that buys us more minutes with some of our top-end players." ' ' '