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 Dozier, shortstop Eduardo Escobar and first baseman Joe Mauer
preserved the lead, and then Minnesota exploded for nine runs in the
bottom half of the inning, going on to a 20-6 victory over the
Detroit Tigers at Target Field on Friday night.
The loss for Detroit, combined with Kansas City's 6-3 win at Texas,
moved the Tigers to a season-high 2 1/2 games behind the Royals for
first place in the American League Central Division standings.
But right now, the Tigers have more immediate concerns.
Detroit cycled through eight pitchers -- including infielder Andrew
Romine in the ninth -- in a game that lasted one minute short of
four hours, ahead of a doubleheader between the teams on Saturday
and a day game Sunday.
"It's hard to imagine that at one point in that game, I was trying
to decide, do I want to face (Miguel) Cabrera or (Victor) Martinez
in the biggest at-bat of the night," said Twins manager Ron
Gardenhire. "I don't even know how to describe that one."
Dozier's double play was no gimme.
After watching a 6-1 lead dwindle to only 6-5 and the tying run 90
feet away, Gardenhire intentionally walked Cabrera and took his
chance with Martinez, the designated hitter.
Good call, skip.
After Martinez hit one toward the hole between first and second,
Dozier raced to the ball, fired back to Escobar at second, who
rifled to Mauer, who made the catch a split second before Martinez's
foot hit the bag for a huge double play.
One miscue and the game would have been tied, and the outcome
possibly quite different.
"The biggest play of the game," Twins third baseman Trevor Plouffe
said. "That was big for us."
In the bottom of the sixth, 14 batters came to the plate and eight
different Twins scored at least one run as the team equaled its
biggest one-inning output of the season.
But the fireworks display wasn't over.
Minnesota scored twice more in the seventh and hit back-to-back
homers off Romine in the eighth to reach 20 runs for the first time
since May 21, 2009.
"There's not really much to say, the scoreboard speaks for itself,"
said Tigers manager Brad Ausmus. "We got our butts kicked. This was
a bad game, an embarrassing game really. There's really not much to
say about it, it is what it is."
Tigers lefty Robbie Ray (1-4) took the loss, allowing the first six
runs on six hits over only 35 pitches and 1 1/3 innings.
"In that second inning, when runners got on base, I kind of lost a
little command," Ray said. "That's where it all went down. It seems
like they were on every pitch I was throwing."
Minnesota left-hander Tommy Milone got the start but did not last
long enough for the win, getting the hook in the midst of Detroit's
four-run rally in the fifth inning. Milone, making his third start
as a Twin since being traded from Oakland on July 31, gave up five
runs -- three earned -- on 10 hits.
Escobar had a career-high five hits, but failed in three chances to
get a double to complete his first career cycle. Escobar has 32
two-base hits this season -- tied for seventh-most in the American
League -- but could not come up with one Friday.
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"I'll work on it for next time," Escobar said with a smile.
"He's got 32 doubles and he couldn't get one tonight?" Gardenhire asked
rhetorically. "There you have it. That fits."
Plouffe and center fielder Danny Santana each had three-hit nights as
Santana knocked in a team-high four runs.
Escobar, Plouffe, Santana and right fielder Oswaldo Arcia all had
homers. Catcher Kurt Suzuki went 0-for-6 and was the only Minnesota
starter to not get at least one hit.
Right-hander Ryan Pressly pitched two-thirds of an inning in relief and
got the win, improving to 2-0.
Detroit actually led first in the game, getting a home run from second
baseman Ian Kinsler to start the game.
Minnesota rallied for six runs and sent 11 men to the plate in a
marathon second inning that gave the Twins the lead for good.
But the Tigers got back into the game with a four-run fifth, getting
help from an error by Escobar and another play to the shortstop that
could have been an error.
Cabrera followed the error with a single to center, moving right fielder
Torii Hunter to third. Martinez knocked in one with a single, and left
fielder J.D. Martinez followed with an RBI double to make it 6-3.
Third baseman Nick Castellanos was the recipient of the infield-hit call
that scored a third run ahead of a single by shortstop Eugenio Suarez. A
sacrifice fly by catcher Bryan Holaday drove in the final run of the
inning.
Detroit finished with 15 hits and left 10 on base. Minnesota went
9-for-19 with runners in scoring position and still stranded 11 runners.
NOTES: Following the game Detroit optioned LHPs Robbie Ray and Ian Krol
to Triple-A Toledo. The Tigers are expected to recall RHP Buck Farmer,
LHP Patrick McCoy and LHP Kyle Lobstein from Toledo in advance of
Saturday's doubleheader. ... Tigers 2B Ian Kinsler led off the game with
a home run, his first homer since July 3. It was the first leadoff home
run for Detroit since Sept. 22, 2012, when Austin Jackson hit one, also
against Minnesota. ... The Twins entered play Friday second in the
majors with 93 runs scored this month, trailing only division rival
Kansas City (96).
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