Detroit Tigers Lost 6-2 to Twins as Sanchez Shines

The Detroit Tigers squandered a game against the Minnesota Twins 6-2 in the middle game of their 3 game series. Anibal Sanchez was great, but a breakdown from Bruce Rondon and an offense that was baffled by Tommy Milone could not come together to get Sanchez the win.

Anibal Sanchez got the start tonight. Most nights, that means an automatic loss based on the fact he will put the game out of reach. Tonight, it was a different story as Sanchez has his best start of the season.

He finished with a line of 6+ IP, 7 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 10 K, but his stuff was much better than that final line. He should not have come back to start the 7^th inning and Bruce Rondon allowed both of his inherited runners to score.

He featured fastball command he has not shown all season, spotting it all around the strike zone, and at the top of the strike zone to get himself swings and misses. His fastball got him swings and misses later in the game on his changeup. It wasn’t a vintage changeup, but he didn’t hang it in predictable counts.

Sanchez’s start may have earned him another start the next time through the rotation. As of now, that start would come Sunday against the Chicago White Sox against Jose Quintana. 

More from Detroit Tigers News

• Detroit Tigers: Victor Reyes finding ways to get the job done
• The Detroit Tigers must cut their losses and release Jonathan Schoop
• Detroit Tigers: Garrett Hill’s new role and changed delivery are excellent
• Detroit Tigers: Joe Jiménez has rebounded in 2022
• Detroit Tigers: Is it finally time to move the fences in at Comerica Park?

After Sanchez exited the game, Bruce Rondon was not capable of keeping the Tigers in this game. After a sacrifice bunt, Rondon surrendered an RBI single to allow both inherited runners to score. After a stolen base and a Joe Mauer single, the Twins had a 4-0 lead. Brian Dozier then came to the plate and stretched the lead to 6-0 with a 2-run home run.

The Tigers’ offense was also anemic once again tonight. One run was good enough on Monday night as Matt Boyd was brilliant, but the Tigers offense was shut down by Tommy Milone who threw a ton of changeups. He cruised through the first 8 innings, surrendering only one hit.

The Tigers pushed across a couple of runs in the bottom of the 9^th and brought the tying run to the plate twice, but Jarrod Saltalamacchia sat on the bench as James McCann and Jose Iglesias struck out to end the game against a right handed pitcher.

Miguel Cabrera and Victor Martinez continued their struggles tonight as well. Entering the game, Cabrera had a slash line of .205/.327/.227. After tonight’s game, his July average dropped to .208. Victor Martinez entered tonight’s game with a slash line of .151/.196/.340 in July. After his night, he is now hitting .160. If the Tigers are going to make a push during the dog days of summer, they need Cabrera and Martinez to step up and lead the offense.

Next: What's the Deal with Miguel Cabrera?

These two teams will once again face off Wednesday afternoon at 1:10. Justin Verlander will take the mound against Ervin Santana before the Tigers go on a 7-game road trip through the south side of Chicago and Boston.