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DETROIT – The Detroit Tigers gave Comerica Park’s biggest crowd in two years an unforgettable spectacle.
Miguel Cabrera had a single with two strikeouts in center field, scoring Jonathan Schoop from the opening goal to give the Tigers a 5-4 extra inning win over the Minnesota Twins in Game 2 of Saturday’s doubles program.
The Tigers (42-51) won both games in the seven-end, day-night doubles, for the Twins (39-52).
The Twins took a 4-3 lead early in the eighth inning on a wild pitch from reliever Joe Jimenez. But the Tigers were able to start the bottom of the eighth with the quick Derek Hill placed on second. He stole third place – a bold move since he was already in scoring position – which forced the Twins to shoot into the infield and allowed Jonathan Schoop to push a soft single through the hole to the right.
With two outs, Miguel Cabrera hit a high pop up that landed between shortstop Andrelton Simmons and center fielder Nick Gordon, who was playing extremely deep given the playing situation.
Schoop ran around for third and scored easily to give the Tigers a win and Cabrera an unlikely single exit.
The 31,624 fans in attendance for what has been dubbed the “Summer Baseball Bash” roared with a volume and electricity that haven’t been heard or seen at Comerica in years. The crowd was the largest at the stadium since July 24, 2019.
“We’re getting more of a baseball brand like this, we’re going to earn their respect for coming back to the stadium and filling this place,” Tigers manager AJ Hinch said. “It’s a great advantage on the pitch and a great energy when we play here. Our players were all talking about it.
The Tigers took their first lead when they charged in goal against Twins starter Kenta Maeda in the second inning on a walk, single and batter. Akil Baddoo scored a triple with two strikeouts and clear goals to give the Tigers a 3-1 lead.
Although it has been called a “bullpen game,” Tigers starter Tyler Alexander actually pitched in the fourth inning, longer than starter Jose Ureña in Game 1. He allowed two runs, including a massive solo homerun from Josh Donaldson. Hinch said Alexander is a strong candidate to start in Ureña’s place next week after Urena was placed on the injured list.
The Tigers had a shot at winning in the bottom of the seventh, when wide receiver Eric Haase was hit by a 94 mph fastball to start the inning. Harold Castro sacrificed pinch runner Victor Reyes on second base with a bunt. But Zack Short struck out, then Derek Hill hit a right liner that looked promising, but was caught for the final strike.
Jimenez took the win after getting big strikeouts in the seventh and eighth innings. Reliever Derek Holland also had three big strikeouts in the sixth.
following: The Tigers and Twins will end their shorter-than-expected three-game streak on Sunday at 1:10 p.m. Tigers right-hander Wily Peralta (2-1, 2.08 ERA) will face Twins left-hander JA Happ (5-4, 5.90).
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