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Make it a series victory for the Detroit Tigers over their division rival Minnesota Twins thanks to their 6-4 win at Target Field. Despite a furious rallying attempt by the host Twins, Detroit held on to earn their 30th victory of 2023. They are now 30-40 overall and five games back of the Twins for the American League Central Division lead.
Detroit navigated through a furious comeback attempt from Minnesota
Back-to-back home runs from Spencer Torkelson and Kerry Carpenter helped propel the Tigers to put five runs on the scoreboard during the 5th inning, building up a comfortable 6-1 lead. But things got dicey when Alex Lange found himself in a jam after hitting two batters, surrendering a walk and RBI double, and tossing a wild pitch that added a run on the board.
“That eighth inning was a mess from the beginning, obviously,” manager A.J. Hinch said. “I’m really proud of this group, so I don’t want the eighth-inning stress to be the story of the day. I think the way that our guys handled the bullpen day, the way that we hung in there on offense and had a really big inning is a really good testament to winning three out of four on the road, which is hard to do.”
Jason Foley would deliver a clutch save
It would be Jason Foley entering the game and calmly navigating through the threat and picking up a well-earned save.
“Sometimes it’s tough to come back when you spend all your emotional energy or a freak-out or something like that,” Foley said. “I just knew there was a pretty decent chance with only two guys down there (in the bullpen) and one of them throwing two earnings yesterday, I was probably going to go back out. So I figured I’d just try to stay focused as much as I could.
“I figured I’d go back out there with a clean inning and no one on and a two-run lead, and I’d just attack the zone, throw strikes and see what happens.”
Wrapping It Up: The Tigers are returning home
It won’t be long before the Tigers see the Twins again, as they’ll be in town later this week for a three-game series. But before that, the Tigers will be taking on another divisional foe in the Kansas City Royals, who hold the worst record in the American League Central.
Taking three of four from the Twins will be a huge confidence boost, and we hope the Tigers can make the most of it as they have an opportunity to make some serious ground in the division chase.
