The Detroit Tigers outlasted the Minnesota Twins in a 12-inning battle Wednesday, winning 11-6 at Target Field after Spencer Torkelson delivered a decisive two-run home run in the 12th inning.
With the score tied 6-6, Torkelson led off the inning by launching the second pitch from Tommy Nance into the left-field bleachers for his 21st home run of the season. The Tigers then loaded the bases with two outs before Javier Báez cleared them with a double down the right-field line.
Torkelson’s homer lifts Tigers in extra innings
Detroit’s victory came after Kyle Finnegan allowed the tying run to score in the 11th inning. Finnegan stranded the potential winning run at third by striking out Kody Clemens and inducing Ryan Jeffers to ground out to end the frame.
The Tigers had taken a 5-2 lead before their bullpen surrendered the advantage in the eighth inning. Five of the first six Minnesota batters reached base against Drew Sommers and Kenley Jansen. Royce Lewis followed with a two-run single to tie the game, but Jansen and Tyler Holton each struck out a batter to leave two runners in scoring position.
After Max Clark opened the 11th with a double that scored automatic runner Ben Malgeri from second, the Twins responded in the bottom half of the inning with Luke Keaschall’s RBI single.
Detroit gets key contributions from rookies
Starter Drew Anderson allowed one earned run over 5 2/3 innings, while John Peck, Detroit’s No. 20 prospect, recorded his first two Major League hits and drove in three runs. Clark doubled three times and scored three runs.
Anderson faced early trouble when he clipped the jersey of Twins leadoff hitter Keaschall. Two batters later, first baseman Colt Keith could not handle a Clemens grounder, putting runners on first and second with one out.
That brought Jeffers to the plate after he had hit three home runs against the Tigers over the previous two nights. Anderson won the matchup by getting Jeffers to ground a changeup to shortstop, where Peck started an inning-ending double play.
Peck then made an impact offensively in the second inning. Eduardo Valencia led off with a single, and Clark doubled one out later. Peck crushed a Dean Kremer cutter to the base of the wall in left-center field for a two-run double.
The Tigers added two more runs in the fifth before Peck provided additional insurance with a single that scored Clark, who had doubled to lead off the sixth.
Twins rally but fall short
Anderson ran into another threat in the fourth inning after walking Clemens to begin the frame. Jeffers followed immediately with an RBI double, putting the tying run on second base with nobody out. Anderson retired the next three hitters, striking out two of them, to end the danger.
Minnesota cut the deficit to 5-2 in the sixth when Kevin McGonigle’s two-out throwing error allowed an unearned run to score. The Twins later tied the game in the eighth but could not produce another big hit with runners on base.
After dropping the first two games of the series by a combined 26-3 score, Detroit secured a much-needed win and gained momentum heading into a four-game weekend series against the Cleveland Guardians.
Source: www.mlb.com
