Since returning from his brief stint out of the lineup, Upton has posted three consecutive two-hit games and is providing the pop the Tigers thought they were getting when they signed the three-time All-Star to a six-year, $132 million contract last winter. The Tigers won for the second straight time following a 3-10 stretch that severely damaged their postseason bid. A Victor Martinez single, a Justin Upton double and Casey McGee walk loaded the bases. He walked James McCann on four pitches to load the bases, then walked No. 9 hitter Cameron Maybin to make the score 1-0. Polanco then scored on a single from Joe Mauer to give the Twins the 2-1 lead. He led the inning off with an infield single and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Minnesota mustered six hits with Brian Dozier going solo and scoring twice while Jorge Polanco knocked in a run and scored. No errors were handed out during the inning, though. The over is 12-3-1 in Minnesota’s last 16 Wednesday games and is 53-24-4 in their last 81 overall while the over is 35-16-2 in their last 53 home games. He led the inning off with a single and stole second base. Aybar’s one-out single to center scored Maybin. Minnesota re-took the lead with a home run by Brian Dozier in the bottom of the fifth inning. The Tigers bullpen took care of the Twins the rest of the way as the Tigers came away with the victory in game one of the series.
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Boyd is 1-0 with a 1.50 ERA in his career against the Twins, having allowed two earned runs in 12 innings in two starts.
Detroit Tigers’ Cameron Maybin celebrates the final out as the Tigers defeat the Minnesota Twins 8-3 in a baseball game Tuesday, Aug. 23, 2016, in Minneapolis.
Maybin, hitting ninth as a precaution for his sprained left thumb that had him on the disabled list until Sunday, walked again to lead off the fifth.
Meanwhile, Anibal Sanchez was quietly dominant for another start. He didn’t allow a walk and struck out two.
Right-hander Pat Light, acquired from Boston for left-handed reliever Fernando Abad on August 1, made his Twins debut by recording the last two outs of the seventh inning. The Twins are in the midst of a four game slide following Tuesday’s defeat where nothing went favorably. Miguel Cabrera also had three hits. The Twins had thrown three wild pitches in the sixth inning, but it looked like the Tigers were on the verge of squandering the gifts. Maybin also led the Tigers with a whopping +.469 WPA on the evening.
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Ian Kinsler finished 0-for-5 on the night and is batting.098 (5-for-51) over his last 13 games for the Tigers. He hit a couple of balls hard, but was a non-factor in the win. He seems to have that zip up top in the strike zone again.
