Victor Martinez and Omar Infante each added a solo blast for the Tigers, who snapped a two-game slide. Detroit needs one win or a loss by the Cleveland Indians to lock up its third straight Central crown.
Ryan Doumit homered among two hits and scored twice as Minnesota fell for the 15th time in its last 20 games. Scott Diamond (6-12) allowed four runs on nine hits in 6 1/3 frames to absorb the loss.
The Twins got on the board on Chris Parmelee’s RBI single in the second before the Tigers took control in the fourth. Martinez ripped a 2-2 fastball out to left and Infante made it back-to-back blasts with a go-ahead shot.
Diamond got two outs before surrendering a single and Jackson’s home run to deep left-center to cap the uprising. Fister (14-9) allowed two runs on eight hits while striking out seven and three relievers bridged the gap to Joaquin Benoit, who made up for a blown save on Monday with a scoreless ninth and his 23rd save.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Tigers 3B Miguel Cabrera (groin) was in the lineup and played the field for the second straight night. He went 0-for-4 to drop his league-leading average to .347. … Detroit RF and former Twin Torii Hunter is 6-for-11 in the series. … Minnesota OF Oswaldo Arcia (knee) missed his second straight game but is hopeful of returning before the end of the season.
Detroit | Minnesota | |
Doug Fister | Player | Scott Diamond |
Win | W/L | Loss |
6.1 | IP | 6.1 |
7 | Strikeouts | 3 |
8 | Hits | 9 |
2.84 | ERA | 5.68 |
Detroit | Minnesota | |
Austin Jackson | Player | Chris Parmelee |
3 | Hits | 3 |
2 | RBI | 1 |
1 | HR | 0 |
6 | TB | 4 |
.600 | Avg | .750 |