Twins 6, Tigers 3: Correa does nothing—scores winning run

This morning (11 AM Central start due to a rainy Detroit forecast) & afternoon, Carlos Correa did nothing at the plate—0-5. In fact, one could say he did slightly worse than nothing, with two strikeouts and two double plays. Fortunately, thanks to our favorite sport’s fearless leader Rob Manfred, each team gets a “freebie” when the innings tick past the standard nine—and Correa happened to be in the right place at the right time.

But before that, let’s take a look at how the game got to that point:

The Twins got on the board first at Comerica Park in a rather hilarious sequence of third inning events when Christian Vazquez singled, advanced to second on a sac fly, advanced to third on a very close sac fly play—and then trotted home when Donovan Solano put one in the seats. 2-0 Minnesota.

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That lead lasted all of 10-15 minutes, what with the home team ambushing Twins starter Bailey Ober for a 3-spot in their half of the inning. 3-2 Detroit.

Though the Twins seemingly had scoring threats—or at very least baserunners—in every inning from 4-7, the usual combination of whiffs and ill-timed ground balls hit right at infielders to turn-two produced no runs.

It was fortunate, then, that Ober settled down and didn’t allow another run while Jordan Balazovic & Brent Headrick combined for a clean seventh frame.

Photo by Duane Burleson/Getty Images

In the top of the eighth, the Twins looked to again squander a run-scoring opportunity—but were gifted a Nick Maton throwing error that allowed Royce Lewis to step on home plate. 3-all.

A clean Brock Stewart eighth inning followed by a similar Griffin Jax ninth kept the contest knotted heading into the Manfred-sponsored portion of the programming. This is where we catch up to the opening paragraph.

With Correa as the automatic runner on second base, Lewis blooped a ball through the Tiger infield and Twins 3B coach Tommy Watkins started windmilling. A good throw from Detroit LF Andy Ibanez likely nabs C-4, and that’s pretty close to what transpired—except catcher Jake Rogers couldn’t keep the ball in his glove and the home plate umpire shot out both arms parallel to the earth. The Twins take the lead 4-3!

That seemed to open the valves a bit for the Twins offense, as a Ryan Jeffers sac bunt, Willi Castro RBI single, Castro subsequent stolen base, and Vazquez base-knock put the cherry on top of this victory Sunday (heh, heh). Jhoan Duran wouldn’t allow anything to mushroom in the home squad’s last-ups.

After dropping 3-of-4 to DET at the homestead last weekend, MIN rebounded with a series victory in the Motor City this go-round. Your final: Minnesota Twins 6, Detroit Tigers 3.

Studs

• Twins bullpen: 4 IP, 0 ER
• Vazquez: 2-5 + baserunning hustle
• Lewis: 3-4, continuing to have a nose for contact and driving in runs

Duds

• A Michael A. Taylor vs. Alex Kirilloff heavyweight bout in CF that fortunately seemed to leave neither the worse for the wear.

Photo by Duane Burleson/Getty Images

Comment of the Game

JohnFoley basically describing large portions of the Twins’ season thus far.