Tigers 12, Twins 11: Unlucky seven

For the second straight start, Jose Berrios allowed five runs in the first inning. And for the second straight start, the Twins said “screw that” and came back. But for the first straight start, the Tigers said “screw THAT” and won the game anyway.

The beginning of the night did not look promising. With the Detroit Tigers already up 1-0 in the 1st, James McCann hit a two-out grand slam to put an early crooked number on the scoreboard.

...But these 2017 Twins do not lie down easily, whether you’re talking about individual games or the overall standings. They shot back with five runs of their own in the 3rd -- Joe Mauer cleared the bases with a 3-run double, and Eddie Rosario tied the game with a two-run jack.

Byron Buxton made it 6-5 with a solo homer in the 4th. Buxton is hitting .333/.397/.409 with 6 steals in 6 attempts and Gold Glove-caliber defense since July 1st. Come ON.

The Tigers returned the score to 7-6 and threatened more in the bottom of the 4th, but Ryan Pressly got some key outs to keep the Twins ahead. After that, Minnesota was gone. The bats lit up again and the Twins added one in the 5th (a Castro single) and three more in the 6th (two coming on a Joe Mauer jack-a-roni.) 11-6 Minnesota!

...But these 2017 Tigers do not lie down easily. An RBI groundout from Alex Presley and a two-run Jose Iglesias shot — both off Trevor Hildenberger -- made it a one-run game in the bottom of the 8th. Closer Matt Belisle (yet another line I can’t believe I’ve just written) entered for a four-out save, and struck out Ian Kinsler to end the inning.

The Twins would then load the bases in the top of the 9th for Miguel Sano, but he struck out, costing the Twins some valuable insurance runs. It would be back down to Belisle to seal the win.

Big Matty B allowed a lead-off single, and then a two-run, walk-off homer to Justin Upton. If that sounds familiar, it is, because it’s the third time the Twins have allowed a walk-off homer since July 29th. And I remembered this off the top of my head, because I was assigned to the July 29th game, for which I had written a nice little recap that was destroyed by a last-minute chang e in the reSULT of the GAM Eand SON OF A

Studs:

2B Brian Dozier (3-for-6, 1 RBI, 1 R)

1B Joe Mauer (2-for-5, 1 BB, 5 RBI, 2 R)

LF Eddie Rosario (2-for-5, 2-run HR)

CF Byron Buxton (2-for-4, 2 RBI, 1 R)

C Jason Castro (3-for-4, BB, 1 RBI, 1 R)

Duds:

The starting pitching

The bullpen

You

Notes: Every Twins player recorded a hit tonight. Every Twins player except for Jorge Polanco had at least two hits.

Robot Roll Call: