The Tigers take 2 of 3 from the Twins
Game 1
7-0 Twins
Tyler Alexander got the start for the Tigers in this one, as he continues to try and be a starting pitcher. Again he didn’t not help his case out any for next season. Alexander went five innings, giving up three runs on five hits while also waking four Twins. Miguel Diaz took over from there, making his Detroit debut, after being called up from Toledo, followed by Will Vest and Andrew Chafin who couldn’t keep runs off the board. They combined to give up four more earned runs before the Tigers called on Kody Clemens, he is quickly becoming the go to position pitcher to come in and pitch an inning, giving up two hits but was able to strand them both. The Tigers hitters again had nothing for opposing pitchers, as they could only manager six hits and no runs. The Tigers have been shutout 22 times this season, with the record being from the 1908 Cardinals at 33 shutouts, the Tigers are safe from that but being shutout 22 times in 158 games shows how much work the Tigers and new President of Baseball Operations Scott Harris and Manager A.J. Hinch some work to do this off season.
WP: Ryan 13-8 (3.55 ERA)
LP: Alexander 4-11 (4.72 ERA)
SV: Correa (22 Saves)
Game 2
3-2 Tigers
Javier Baez got the Tigers on the board in the first with a single that scored Riley Greene, who had hit a single and wound up on third due to a throwing error on the play. In the fourth inning, Eric Haase hit his 13th home run of the season, to make it 2-0 good guys. Drew Hutchison was on the mound for the Tigers and only had one rough inning, that being the fifth after a home run and three singles tied the game for Minnesota. The Tigers bullpen went the rest of the way to get the win because in the sixth the Tigers used a hit by pitch, a fly out, and a throwing error to push the go ahead and winning run across. The bullpen pitched 4 2/3 innings and gave up no runs.
WP: Norris 2-4 (5.40 ERA)
LP: Henriquez 0-1 (2.31 ERA)
SV: Chafin (2 Saves)
Game 3
5-2 Tigers
The Tigers try to finish out their division schedule with a win against Minnesota, and they get the job done here. Detroit, again, started out quickly in the first with two runs on bad defense by the Twins. Akil Baddoo led off the game with a walk and advanced to third on a throwing error when he stole second. He scored on a fielding error by first baseman Joe Miranda. Then, after a Miguel Cabrera single moved Haase to third, Haase scored on a wild pitch by Twins starter Simeon Woods. A home run by Eric Haase (14) put the Tigers up 3-0. The Twins tried to tie it in the fifth with bases loaded walk and a sac fly but fell short, making the score 3-2. However, in the eighth the Tigers answered and scored two on a solo home run by Victor Reyes and a single by Cabrera made the game 5-2 and Gregory Soto closed it out in the ninth for his 30th save of the season.
WP: Lange 7-4 (3.45 ERA)
LP: Woods Richardson 0-1 (3.60 ERA)
SV: Soto (30 Saves)
The Tigers (65-93) travel to Seattle for four games to finish out their disappointing season. The Tigers currently sit in fourth place in the AL Central and can hopefully remain there and avoid the dreaded last place finish.
The Twins (77-82) travel to Chicago to face the White Sox for three games to finish their season. The Twins are currently third in the AL Central, but could end the season in second place if they can sweep the White Sox.
David Masters