The Minnesota Twins dropped back further in the AL Central standings on Saturday, dropping both ends of a doubleheader with the Detroit Tigers.
The first game on Saturday was all about Tigers left-hander Matthew Boyd, who shut down the Twins through six brilliant innings. Despite coming into the game with a 0-4 record and a 8.48 ERA, Boyd allowed just two runs on four hits with six strikeouts on the afternoon to hand the game over to the Tigers’ offense.
Remincient of the teams that Tigers manager Ron Gardenhire used to trot out with the Twins, Detroit bludgeoned Randy Dobnak with hits, collecting 12 off the Twins starter. With the right-hander allowing six earned runs, the Tigers raced ahead and picked up an 8-2 victory in the opener.
The nightcap got off to a better start for the Twins with Marwin Gonzalez giving Minnesota an early lead with a sacrifice fly in the second inning. Although the Tigers took the lead on a two-run homer from Jeimer Candelario in the third inning, the Twins tied the game up thanks to Nelson Cruz’s second homer of the day in the fourth.
Siri, who leads Major League Baseball in home runs?#MNTwins pic.twitter.com/pFdRTidva6
— FanDuel Sports Network North (@FanDuelSN_NOR) August 29, 2020
The game remained tied into the fifth inning when Miguel Cabrera launched a two-run homer off Tyler Duffey to put the Tigers ahead 4-2. Although the Twins got the leadoff man on in the top of the seventh, the Tigers were able to slam the door and complete the sweep.
With the Twins dropping both games, they fall 1 1/2 games behind Cleveland in the AL Central standings. The Twins will try to salvage the series with the Tigers on Sunday with first pitch scheduled for 12:10 p.m.
