MIN 6, DET 2: Duffey Throws Horsehide, Dozier Talks To Cowhide

There'll be swinging and swaying and records playing in the Twins clubhouse. Yes, records. Torii Hunter has no tolerance for modern perversions like MP3 players.

Tyler Duffey's line tonight: 6 IP, 8 H, 1 BB, 2 SO. Kinda Pelfrey-ish, and Duffey almost went Full Pelf in the fourth, but somehow escaped single-out-double-double-single with only two runs. Nifty Houdini moves, Duff Man.

That tied this game after the Twins took a first-inning 2-0 lead. Post-then, Alfredo Simon looked like the All-Star he was last year, not the Guy You Sign At The End Of Spring Training he's usually been in his career and during a disappointing 2015 for Tigers fans.

Simon's one of Kurt Suzuki's favorite pitchers, though, owning a 1.500 OPS against him going into this game. Suzuki drove in Hunter for the go-ahead run. With Aaron Hicks on third and one out, Eduardo Escobar beat out the GIDP and Hicks scored. Twins radio announcers Provus/Gladden gushed over Suzuki doing . . . um . . . something on the basepaths that slowed down the throw. Nobody on the game thread seemed to know what they were talking about. I watched the highlight clip, and I don't know what they were talking about. Suzuki just stops running. Maybe he gave shortstop Dixon Machado a scary look. Suzuki does spear-fish for octopi. He can probably look scary.

Escobar added an insurance homer later. For a while in the eighth, it looked like the Twins might need more runs. Trevor May scuffled a bit in his first game since last week. He survived unsullied.

The only highlight MLB is making embeddable right now is this odd video of Brian Dozier talking to his glove. After a successful double-play, no less:

Houston won today, so the Twins won't be moving closer to wild-card play-in heaven. 1.5 GB, with the Angels surging, seems like a mountain too high, a valley too low, a river too wide. We'll just have to wait; it's a game of give and take. Tune in tomorrow for Ervin Santana, presumably with clean pee, against comeback-trying Randy Wolf, who hasn't been great.

Thanks everyone who showed up on the thread!

Robot Roll Call: