Detroit Tigers’ Miguel Cabrera homers twice; beat Minnesota 13-1

It was an absolute fireworks display in Detroit on Thursday, and it wasn’t even the 4th of July. The Detroit Tigers annihilated the Minnesota Twins, winning 13-1.

Manager Brad Ausmus decided to do stray away from his camp counselor routine and experiment with the lineup a bit, sitting Victor Martinez (0-for-4 with 3 K’s on Wednesday) and moving J.D. Martinez to the DH position. One could say it worked out swimmingly.

Anibal Sanchez had a much needed successful start as he was absolute money on the mound:

Anibal Sanchez Final Line: 8.0 IP, 5 Hits, 1 ER, 9 K’s

The Twins’ starter, Mike Pelfrey, had an okay outing, but it was Minnesota’s bullpen that tallied up a bulk of the runs.

Mike Pelfrey Final Line: 4.2 IP, 10 Hits, 4 ER, 1 K

After scoring only seven runs in their last four games, Detroit’s offense exploded. Miguel Cabrera, being the freak of nature he is, homered twice and collected five RBI’s. Anthony Gose had another strong day at the plate as he went 4-for-5. Rajai Davis and Bryan Holaday also had three hits a piece.

The Tigers got to work early, scoring three runs in the first inning; Gose led off the game with a single and was scored thanks to hits by Ian Kinsler and Cabrera.

J.D. Martinez finally decided to hit the ball, smacking a bloop single to shallow center field to advance Cabrera the third. Yoenis Cespedes then got in on the fun and clubbed a sac fly, giving Detroit the 2-0 lead. Davis then hit a double to score Martinez.

From there it was a hit parade, says Carlos Monarrez of the Detroit Free Press:

"“Then it became a farce. The Tigers scored eight runs in the next three innings, including two-run home runs by Cabrera in the sixth and seventh innings and Bryan Holaday’s first homer of the year in the eighth. Gose and Kinsler had back-to-back triples in the seventh, and the Tigers looked like they were in constant motion on the base paths."

The Tigers head to St. Louis for a three game stint against the Cardinals beginning Friday.