Jorge Polanco hit a three-run homer and Michael Pineda won his fifth consecutive start as the Minnesota Twins defeated the Detroit Tigers, 5-2, on Wednesday night in Minneapolis.
Luis Arraez and Josh Donaldson each had two hits and scored a run for Minnesota (71-87) which won the sixth time in its last eight games. Byron Buxton also scored twice, stole a base and made another impressive catch, catching the ball at the top of the center field fence to rob Eric Haase in the eighth inning.
Pineda (9-8), making his final start for the Twins before heading into free agency, gave up one run on eight hits over 5 2/3 innings. He struck out five and didn’t walk a batter to improve to 5-0 with a 1.85 ERA following a three-week stint on the injured list with a mild oblique strain.
Harold Castro went 2-for-3 with an RBI and Robbie Grossman also had two hits for Detroit (75-83) which lost its fourth straight game. Casey Mize (7-9), finishing his first full season in the majors, gave up three runs on five hits before departing after four innings and 65 pitches. He didn’t walk a batter and struck out four.
Minnesota took a 3-0 lead in the first, starting the inning with four consecutive hits. Arraez and Buxton led off with singles and Polanco followed with his 32nd home run of the season, a 418-foot drive over the center field fence.
Detroit cut it to 3-1 in the fourth when Grossman led off with a single, went to second when Miguel Cabrera was hit by a pitch, advanced to third on a flyout and then scored on a fielder’s choice by Castro – a line drive comebacker that hit Pineda in the right leg before the Twins’ pitcher recovered to get a force at second.
Minnesota added a pair of insurance runs in the eighth, taking advantage of the wildness of reliever Joe Jimenez. Buxton was hit by a pitch to open the inning, stole second, went to third on a throwing error by Haase and scored on a single by Max Kepler. Donaldson, who had walked, later came around to score on a sacrifice fly by Nick Gordon.
Detroit cut it to 5-2 in the ninth on an RBI single by Jonathan Schoop, driving in Daz Cameron, who was hit by a pitch.
–Field Level Media