DETROIT – The Twins weren’t having much success hitting with runners in scoring position this weekend, so they didn’t mind a little help from the Tigers defense Sunday.
A throwing error tied the game in the eighth inning. A misplay in the 10th inning, plus a drop on a throw from the outfield on a play at the plate, gave the Twins a lead in their 6-3 victory at Comerica Park to take two of three games in the weekend series.
For a Twins offense that leads the league in strikeouts, sometimes it’s as simple as putting the ball in play. With Carlos Correa the automatic runner at second base in the 10th inning, Royce Lewis hit a ground ball that deflected off the glove of Tigers third baseman Nick Maton and rolled into shallow left field. Correa was aggressively waved to the plate, and he scored when catcher Jake Rogers dropped the throw from left field while trying to apply the tag.
The Twins were playing for one more run when Ryan Jeffers dropped a sacrifice bunt to move Lewis to third base, but it turned into two add-on runs. Willi Castro lined an RBI single that deflected off the glove of second baseman Nick Short. Castro then stole second and scored on a Christian Vázquez single.
The game might not have reached extra innings if not for a throwing error from Maton, which was high and wide, and should have ended the eighth inning.
The Twins had two hits in their previous 23 at-bats with runners in scoring position before the 10th inning, and they wasted one of them in the fifth inning. Edouard Julien likely cost his team a tying run with a poor baserunning decision.
BOXSCORE: Twins 6, Detroit 3 (10)
On second base after hitting a one-out double, Julien’s first instinct was to retreat toward second base when Donovan Solano hit a soft line drive through the middle of the infield. Neither middle infielder was close to the ball, and the miscue forced Julien to stop at third on the single to center.
If the baserunning mistake wasn’t obvious in the moment, it loomed larger when Correa grounded into an inning-ending double play.
Vázquez, of all baserunners, showed how to take advantage of Jake Marisnick’s arm. After a leadoff single in the third inning, Vázquez advanced to second on a flyout in front of the warning track. The next pitch was another flyout to center field, again in front of the warning track, and Vázquez slid under a tag when Marisnick’s throw beat him to the bag.
Vázquez clapped and smiled when he reached third base. Coach Tommy Watkins offered a pat on the back. Then Solano rewarded his teammate with a slow jog to the plate when he crushed a two-run homer to center field with the wind blowing in.
The Twins’ early two-run lead didn’t last long. Bailey Ober surrendered a two-run double to Zach McKinstry, a fastball hooked down the right field line, and an RBI single to Kerry Carpenter on a changeup that was lined into right field in the bottom of the third inning. McKinstry, from second base, beat a throw from right fielder Joey Gallo to score the go-ahead run.
Ober struck out a season-high eight batters across six innings, but four of the five hits he allowed stemmed from the three-run third inning.