Twins 3, Tigers 2: Joe Mauer went 3-for-4 and belted his first homer in over a month while P.J. Walters collected a win in his season debut as visiting Minnesota snapped a 10-game losing streak.
Justin Morneau and Chris Parmelee each drove in a run as the Twins avoided matching their longest slide since Sept. 9-21, 2011. Walters (1-0) allowed two runs and eight hits over six frames with his first victory since May 22, 2012, while Glen Perkins nailed down his ninth save after yielding a one-out infield single.
Doug Fister (5-2) surrendered all three of his runs on three hits and a walk in the first inning, but rebounded with six scoreless innings before departing after 116 pitches. The right-hander, who gave up eight hits overall, fell to 1-2 with a 5.21 ERA in five May starts after going 4-0 with a 2.38 ERA in April.
In his first at-bat since breaking up Anibal Sanchez’s no-hit bid on Friday, Mauer delivered his first homer since April 15 on a liner that just climbed over the wall in right field. Josh Willingham drew a walk and Morneau followed with an RBI double before Parmelee capped the three-run frame with a run-scoring single.
Detroit broke through in the fifth when Andy Dirks ended a streak of nine straight batters retired by Walters with a single and Torii Hunter ripped a one-hop, run-scoring double to the wall in right-center. Jhonny Peralta trimmed the deficit to 3-2 in the sixth with a line-drive solo shot in right.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Tigers 3B Miguel Cabrera went 1-for-4 to extend his hitting streak to 11 games, but did not drive in a run for the first time in six games. The 2012 American League MVP had recorded at least two RBIs in five straight, one shy of matching Rudy York's team record of six straight multiple-RBI games in 1940. … Mauer entered Saturday with four hits in 23 career at-bats against Fister, but singled in the third and fifth before striking out against the right-hander in the seventh. … Detroit fell to 5-16 when it scores four runs or fewer.
Minnesota | Detroit | |
P.J. Walters | Player | Doug Fister |
Win | W/L | Loss |
6.0 | IP | 7.0 |
3 | Strikeouts | 7 |
8 | Hits | 8 |
3.00 | ERA | 3.86 |
Minnesota | Detroit | |
Joe Mauer | Player | Brayan Pena |
3 | Hits | 3 |
1 | RBI | 0 |
1 | HR | 0 |
6 | TB | 3 |
.750 | Avg | .750 |