Tigers 11, Twins: 6: One Rally Too Few, One Homer Too Many

[Sherry Cerny]

Image courtesy of Jesse Johnson-Imagn Images

 

Box Score
SP: Dean Kremer - 5 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 5 K (79 pitches, 51 strikes (72% strikes)
Home Runs:  -0-
Bottom 3 WPA: Kaelen Culpepper (-0.35);  Walker Jenkins (-0.20); Dean Kremer (-0.18)
Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs)

 

Dean Kremer took the mound against the Tigers Wednesday night looking for redemption. It hasn’t exactly been smooth sailing lately. Over his last five appearances, Kremer has struggled to find the zone consistently, while seemingly every offspeed pitch that missed its spot found a bat.

 

In the first inning, Kremer looked good, but the second was a different story. His cutter appeared to be giving him trouble. A single by Eduardo Garcia was followed by back-to-back doubles from Max Clark and John Peck, which put the Tigers ahead 2-0. The next inning, Kremer adjusted, leaning more heavily on his fastball and moving away from the cutter. The change in pitch selection paid off, and he worked through the frame without surrendering a run.

 

The Twins offense gave Tigers starter Drew Anderson some early pressure, putting runners on base but (as has happened too often) failing to turn those opportunities into runs. They squandered a prime opportunity to get on the board in the third, but they finally got some traction in the fourth. Anderson issued a walk to Kody Clemens, and Ryan Jeffers followed with a hard line drive to left. Clemens raced home to score, as Jeffers picked up his 17th double of the season and the 100th of his MLB career. The Twins were finally on the board, cutting the Tigers' lead to 2-1.

 

Kremer started to struggle again in the fifth. Kevin McGonigle walked to open the inning, advanced on a wild pitch, and scored on a Hao-Yu Lee line drive to make it 3-1. Kody Funderburk replaced Kremer, but the trouble continued. Riley Greene drove in two to extend the Tigers' lead. The following inning, with Funderburk sticking around, Clark and Peck combined to produce another run, stretching Detroit's lead to four runs.

 

The Twins took advantage of an unraveling Tigers squad in the sixth. A two-out, none-on situation spiraled after Jeffers reached on an error. Josh Bell singled, followed by a sharp double from Larnach, closing the gap to 5-2. The bullpen held serve for the next two innings, giving the team a chance to complete a comeback.

 

Brooks Lee was hitless before finally sending a slider into the gap for a leadoff hit in the bottom of the eighth. Kody Clemens was hit by a pitch: Two on, nobody out. Bell followed with a single to load the bases and was replaced by Ben Ross, bringing some much-needed speed to the basepaths.

 

The Twins burned Gabriel González to get Victor Caratini up against Kenley Jansen as a pinch-hitter for Larnach. Caratini drew a walk that brought Lee home and cut Detroit's lead to 5-3. Ryan Kreidler, another speed option, replaced Caratini as the Twins looked to create chaos—though, yes, this meant the team spun four players through one spot in the batting order in one inning.

 

Then came Royce Lewis. Hitless for the night, Lewis battled through an eight-pitch showdown before finally getting a cutter and ripping a ground ball through the middle to center field, scoring Clemens and Ross. Tie game. 5-5.

Yoendrys Gómez worked a scoreless top of the ninth, giving the Twins' top of the order a chance to close out the game before extras. The offense kept the pressure, getting runners on amidst the outs, but a fly ball that died at the warning track for Jeffers ended the inning, but not the game.

 

The 10th inning was quick. Gómez put Tigers hitters down, while the Twins offense managed to create a little pressure, but neither team could come through, pushing the game to the 11th. Taylor Rogers came out for the top of the 11th for Minnesota. The Tigers struck right away. A misread ball by Clemens on Clark's hit scored Ben Melgeri, giving the Tigers the 6-5 lead. Tommy Nance came replaced Rogers and escaped without allowing further damage.

 

Walker Jenkins led off the 11th inning, with Kaelen Culpepper on base. Jenkins battled before hitting into a force out, but Culpepper made it safely to third and waited while the top of the lineup came up. Keaschall hit into center field, scoring Culpepper and tying the game 6-6. Thereafter, though, the Twins squandered a golden chance to walk it off. A single by Lee sent Keaschall racing to third with one out, but Clemens struck out and Jeffers grounded out, stranding the winning run in tantalizing position.

 

Nance came out again for the 12th and picked the most inconvenient time to give up his second home run as a Twin. It was a 8-6 Tigers in a blink, and 11-6 before Nance could recover and hand things off to the beleaguered offense. At last, one side made a lead stand up; the Tigers won.

 

What’s Next?
The Twins have a day off while they travel to Chicago to meet the White Sox on Friday 6:40 CST. The Twins will send Zebby Matthews (9-8, 4.58 ERA) against a pitcher the White Sox will determine later. 

Postgame Interviews 

Coming soon.

Bullpen Availability Chart

 

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[Parfigliano]

That L hurt.

[howeda7]

I am curious why they didn't challenge the Tigers stolen base in the top of the 5th. The guy looked out to me and that inning unraveled. 

[knothole61]

Sad...maybe have Clemens try a squeeze bunt in the 11th? I have a feeling that he's a decent bunter and the odds of a double play if the runner on second is sent on the pitch are very, very slim. Man, you just can't strike out in that situation...you just can't.

On a positive note, ya' gotta' love Luke Baseball! 

[VivaBomboRivera!]

Big opportunity to gain ground missed. Every loss now is a coffin nail.
Sweep Chicago or go home.

[JADBP]

You know.....Cleveland is holding firm with the last wild card spot...and their record is only 1 game over .500!  If we can't even get to .500, then we certainly don't deserve to be in the playoffs.  Very disappointing loss.  Twins play well for a while then just BOOM, fell flat on their face.  Ouch! Like going 10/17 in August...after going 15/9 in July.

Odd....in August, the Twins won only one of ten weekend games (Sat and Sun) all month!