Twins 4, Tigers 3 (11): Brian Dozier tied the game in the ninth with a solo homer and Josmil Pinto hit a walk-off RBI single in the bottom of the 11th as Minnesota stunned visiting Detroit.
Dozier led off the 11th with a single and moved up on a wild pitch before Pinto’s single to right off Luke Putkonen (1-2) plated the winning run. Anthony Swarzak (3-2) worked a scoreless 11th to pick up the win for the Twins, who broke through with two runs in the eighth.
Justin Verlander struck out 12 in six scoreless innings while Torii Hunter drove in a run and scored among three hits before the bullpen broke down for the Tigers, whose magic number to clinch the American League Central remained at two.
Hunter broke a scoreless draw in the fifth when he ripped a 1-0 fastball from Mike Pelfrey into the gap in left-center for a ground-rule RBI double. Hunter doubled again with one out in the seventh and came in to score on Miguel Cabrera’s single to center.
Victor Martinez doubled in Cabrera to continue the seventh-inning surge before Ryan Pressly came out of the bullpen and got Omar Infante to ground into an inning-ending double play. The Twins got two back off reliever Jose Veras on RBI doubles by Eduardo Escobar and Ryan Doumit in the eighth before Brian Dozier led off the ninth with a solo blast to left-center off Joaquin Benoit, sending it to extra innings.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Cabrera (groin) returned to the lineup after taking Sunday off and went 2-for-4 with a walk before being removed for a pinch runner in the ninth. … Tigers 1B Prince Fielder played in his 500th consecutive game. The All-Star has missed one of his last 828 contests, when the flu kept him out of the lineup while he was a member of the Milwaukee Brewers on Sept. 13, 2010. … Pelfrey allowed one run on six hits in six innings while Twins OF Oswaldo Arcia was scratched from the lineup after suffering a bruised right knee during batting practice. The rookie was replaced by Clete Thomas.
Detroit | Minnesota | |
Justin Verlander | Player | Mike Pelfrey |
No Decision | W/L | No Decision |
6.0 | IP | 6.0 |
12 | Strikeouts | 5 |
6 | Hits | 6 |
0.00 | ERA | 1.50 |
Detroit | Minnesota | |
Torii Hunter | Player | Eduardo Escobar |
3 | Hits | 2 |
1 | RBI | 1 |
0 | HR | 0 |
5 | TB | 3 |
.500 | Avg | .500 |