Twins 9, Tigers 3: They did better than the Vikings

The Twins overcame an early deficit to roar back against the Tigers on Thursday night, cruising to a 9-3 victory at Target Field.

Gabriel Moya opened the game for Minnesota (more on this Friday), giving up one run. Stephen Gonsalves took over, surrendering two more runs in the second. But with former teammate Francisco Liriano and an armada of Detroit relievers on the mound, the Twins rather easily battled back.

Joe Mauer started the rally with a run-scoring ground-rule double in the third. Tyler Austin followed it up with a two-run double to tie the game, after which Liriano was removed for -injury. It didn’t matter, as Large Adult Son Willians Astudillo whacked a two-run single off Louis Coleman to put the Twins ahead for good.

The pounding continued off Tigers reliever Matt Hall in the 5th. Austin hit another run-scoring double, and Astudillo added to his RBI total with a two-run double. Max Kepler joined the party with an RBI single.

And then I assume everyone went in the dugout to check their fantasy football teams, because all the action happened on TV and not much took place on the field. The crowd had also noticeably filtered out, with every shout, cough, and clap very, very audible on the broadcast. John Curtiss got the final three outs. Vikings lost.

STUDS: Austin, Astudillo

DUDS: Tigers pitching staff

ROBOT ROLL CALL:

We’ll see you all tomorrow.