The Detroit Tigers survived another late collapse before breaking through in the 12th inning for an 11-6 victory over the Minnesota Twins at Target Field on Wednesday, Sept. 2. The win ended Detroit’s three-game losing streak and salvaged the series.
Spencer Torkelson delivered the decisive blow with his 21st home run, a two-run shot into the second deck in left field. His homer sparked a five-run inning and marked his first home run since July 29, when he hit an 11th-inning walk-off against the Baltimore Orioles at Comerica Park.
Twins right-hander Tommy Nance unraveled after Torkelson’s homer. The Tigers loaded the bases with two outs on a single, an intentional walk and a hit batter, with John Peck taking a pitch off his helmet. Javier Báez then cleared the bases with a three-run bloop double.
Tigers squander late lead before winning in extra innings
Detroit carried a 5-2 lead into the eighth inning, but Minnesota rallied to tie the game. The Twins used a walk and a hit batter to score three runs and send the game to extra innings.
The Tigers regained the lead in the 11th when Max Clark lined a bloop double down the left-field line to score automatic runner Ben Malgeri. Clark had already doubled twice earlier in the game, but Detroit could not advance him with no outs, leaving little margin for Kyle Finnegan, who had thrown 25 pitches Tuesday night.
Luke Keaschall tied the game again with a line-drive single to right that scored Minnesota’s automatic runner. Finnegan then managed to get through the inning, despite the pressure, and pitched a clean 12th to secure the victory.
The Tigers were running short on pitchers. Kenley Jansen and Tyler Holton handled the eighth and ninth innings, while Jacob Waguespack, who threw 21 pitches Tuesday night, recorded the final out of the ninth. He stranded the automatic runner at second by striking out Royce Lewis and getting Kaelen Culpepper to fly out near the right-field wall.
Detroit’s bullpen faced another challenge in the eighth. Left-hander Drew Sommers loaded the bases after singles by Brooks Lee and Josh Bell and a hit batter, Kody Clemens. Jansen entered and walked pinch-hitter Victor Caratini to force in a run.
Lewis followed with a 97.9-mph ground ball that shortstop John Peck could not field, allowing two runs to score and eliminating the Tigers’ lead. It was Detroit’s MLB-leading 29th blown save.
Tigers rookies power offensive breakout
Detroit’s young players helped put the team in position for a much-needed win after two brutal losses to open the series.
Peck, 24, making his second start, recorded his first major-league hit with a scorched two-run double to left-center in the second inning. The ball left his bat at 109.9 mph and traveled 400 feet to the wall. Peck added an RBI single in the sixth.
Clark, 21, doubled three times and scored twice. Catcher Eduardo Valencia, 26, singled, doubled and scored. His single had a 106-mph exit velocity and bounced off the wall too hard for him to reach second, while his 103.8-mph double missed a home run by only a few feet.
Second baseman Hao-Yu Lee, 23, singled home third baseman Kevin McGonigle, 22. Malgeri, 26, had two singles and scored twice. All of them are rookies who debuted this season.
Riley Greene, 25, also contributed with an RBI double. The offensive performance came after manager AJ Hinch rested veteran catcher Dillon Dingler, Gleyber Torres and Báez at the start of the game.
“I think the young guys are holding up fine,” manager AJ Hinch said.
Dingler, who had a rare night off, agreed.
“A lot of these guys are really mature,” he said. “They go about their business the right way. There’s no real governing we need to do.”
Hinch explained the lineup changes before the game following Detroit’s combined 26-3 defeat in the first two games of the series.
“We’re looking for better performance,” Hinch said before the game. “We’ve got to play better if we want to win, and we do want to win. These guys are working hard, but it doesn’t feel good to get blown out like that.”
Drew Anderson keeps Twins off balance
After Minnesota battered young Detroit starters Jackson Jobe and Troy Melton in the first two games, Hinch turned to veteran Drew Anderson.
Making his sixth start since moving from the bullpen, Anderson kept the Twins off balance with a mix of changeups and curveballs built around well-located 94-95 mph four-seam fastballs.
Anderson worked around several walks and hit Keaschall twice, but he allowed only one run through five innings. The run came on an RBI double by Ryan Jeffers, who continued to damage Tigers pitching in the series. Jeffers finished the series 5-for-12 with three home runs and seven RBIs.
Anderson’s changeup was particularly effective, generating eight swings and misses on 22 swings along with six called strikes.
He appeared ready to complete a clean sixth inning, but with two outs, McGonigle made an errant throw to first on a routine ground ball. Bell followed with a single, and Trevor Larnach’s RBI double chased Anderson from the game.
Veteran right-hander Tyler Kinley, working with a sharp slider, stranded two runners in the sixth and pitched a scoreless seventh.
