Comeback falls short as Minnesota Twins drop opener with Tigers
Down 8-0 after the first inning, Jose Berrios gone after 2/3 of an inning and a 26-year-old rookie making just his second career relief appearance earlier than anyone could have imagined.
This was definitely not a situation the Minnesota Twins would have preferred to be in. Nor was it a situation that would have been screaming epic comeback but actually that’s exactly what happened.
Unfortunately for the Twins (10-27), coming back from eight runs down to tie things up was as close as they would get as they fell to the Detroit Tigers, 10-8.
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Following an eight-run outburst that saw the Tigers (17-21) bat around including a homer and double by Ian Kinsler, the Twins got on the board with Kurt Suzuki’s first home run of the season, a two-run blast to left.
Miguel Sano’s home run in the third cut the lead to 8-3 and set things up for a four-run fourth.
The Twins got the best of staff ace Jordan Zimmerman and scored four times to cut it to an 8-7 lead before tying it in the seventh when Plouffe reached on an error by JD Martinez that allowed Byung-ho Park to score.
Reliever Pat Dean worked 5 1/3 innings in a tough spot and kept the Twins in it before succumbing to the Tigers offense and allowing the go-ahead run in the form of a Nick Castellanos home run in the seventh.
Martinez added extra insurance with a solo shot in the eighth and that would be all the scoring need for the night.
MVT: Pat Dean
The Twins will once again be in Detroit for Game Two of the series against the Tigers. Phil Hughes (1-6, 6.44) will face former Twin Mike Pelfrey (0-4, 5.80) who helped the Tigers topple the Twins on May 1st at Target Field. Hughes has struggled mightily in his last four starts going 0-4 with just nine strikeouts and 17 earned runs allowed. First pitch is scheduled for 6:10 PM CST at Comerica Park.