(Sports Network) - The scuffling Detroit Tigers will have to go up against one of baseball's best pitchers as the club tries to protect its tenuous lead in the American League Central during today's finale of a four-game series with the Minnesota Twins from the Metrodome.

Minnesota's Santana has been unbeatable in the second half of this season and dominant at the Metrodome all year long. The 2004 AL Cy Young winner is 8-0 with a 2.63 ERA in 11 starts following the All-Star break, including back-to- back brilliant efforts in his last two outings.

After holding Kansas City to a run over seven innings and striking out 11 in an August 31st victory, Santana yielded just two hits plus a walk and fanned 12 Tampa Bay hitters over eight shutout frames in Tuesday's 8-0 win.

Santana hasn't lost since July 9 at Texas and is unbeaten in his last 21 starts at home, boasting a 14-0 record over that span. His last defeat at the Metrodome came on August 1, 2005.

The Minnesota ace is 2-1 with a 3.29 ERA in four games against the Tigers this season and has usually excelled when facing Detroit over the course of his career. Santana brings a 9-2 record and a 2.75 ERA in 20 lifetime appearances (14 starts) versus Detroit into today's tilt.

That's bad news for the Tigers, who have lost six of their last eight contests and saw their division lead dwindle to three games over the hard-charging Twins following Saturday's 2-1 loss.

Rookie Boof Bonser stepped up big in this crucial game, allowing just one run on five hits in seven strong innings. Joe Nathan closed it out with a 1-2-3 ninth for his 30th save of the season.

Omar Infante knocked in the lone run for the Tigers, but committed a costly error in the second inning which led to a Minnesota run. Nate Robertson (12-12) was the tough-luck loser, as he yielded just two runs -- one earned -- on six hits over a span of seven innings.

The Tigers send out a pretty good pitcher of their own in Jeremy Bonderman, despite the fact that the hard-throwing right-hander is winless (0-3) over his last eight starts.

Bonderman's most recent outing was cut short due to a rain delay, but he wasn't sharp nonetheless. In four innings of work, he gave up three runs (two earned) and six hits in a no decision Tuesday against Seattle.

The 23-year-old struggled in each of his three starts prior to that game and has amassed an unimpressive 6.64 ERA over his last four trips to the mound.

Bonderman has made three previous starts versus the Twins this season and is 0-1 with a 4.22 ERA in those games. For his career, the former first-round draft pick is 2-5 with a 5.75 ERA in 11 games (10 starts) against Minnesota.

Detroit owns an 11-7 advantage in the season series, although Minnesota has won four of the last five meetings. The Tigers are also just 12-25 at the Metrodome since 2003.