The Minnesota Twins came alive to score three runs in the eighth inning but back-to-back strikeouts by Joey Gallo and Byron Buxton put an end to the threat and gave the Detroit Tigers a 6-4 victory on Sunday afternoon.
The Twins entered the eighth inning down 6-1 before Michael A. Taylor was hit in the head by a pitch from Alex Lange. Taylor went off under his own power and Edouard Julien walked before Willi Castro smacked an RBI double to make it a 6-2 game.
Lange continued to struggle with his control after Castro’s double, hitting Donovan Solano with a pitch and allowing Julien to score on a wild pitch to make it 6-3. After Carlos Correa drew another walk, Royce Lewis drove in a run on a single off Jason Foley to make it a 6-4 game.
But the Twins wouldn’t score again as Farmer popped up for the first out of the inning before Gallo struck out for the fourth time in the game. Buxton pinch-hit for Vázquez with the bases loaded and two outs but he struck out looking to end the inning.
It was another sign of the struggles the Twins have had at the plate as they struck out 14 times against the Tigers’ bullpen.
After Javier Báez opened the scoring with an RBI triple in the first inning, Vázquez tied the game with an RBI double in the second inning before the combination of Tyler Holton, Brendan White, Chasen Shreve and Jose Cisnero combined for 6.1 shutout innings.
This allowed the Tigers to break the game open with five runs in the top of the fifth inning as Spencer Torkelson and Kerry Carpenter both hit home runs to chase Louie Varland from the game.
Jordan Balazovic allowed an RBI single to Andy Ibañez and a sacrifice fly to Miguel Cabrera to allow Detroit to build a 6-1 lead but he pitched well, allowing two hits over 3.2 innings in his major league debut.
The Twins (36-36) will continue their homestand on Monday night when they open a four-game series with the Boston Red Sox. Pablo López (3-3, 4.27 ERA) will start in the opener against James Paxton (2-1, 3.09 ERA).
