Detroit Tigers: Twins take first of four in offensive showdown

The Detroit Tigers started a four-game series at home against the Minnesota Twins tonight and lost by a total of eight runs.

The Detroit Tigers returned home tonight to face the Minnesota Twins after getting swept by Cleveland on the road. The Tigers were unable to turn it around and lost in convincing fashion against Minnesota, giving up 12 runs in the first four innings and losing the game 13-5.

Edwin Jackson started the game on the mound for Detroit, and it was not a pretty sight. Minnesota came out swinging and scored six runs over the first two innings. Jackson only lasted one more out after that and things didn’t get much better for Matt Hall. Hall replaced Jackson and allowed two more to score in the third and four to score in the fourth. Nick Ramirez and David McKay did a good job closing out the game, but the deficit was too great to overcome.

Detroit’s offense came out of the gates strong as well, plating two in the first courtesy of hits by Ronny Rodriguez and Dawel Lugo. Rodriguez would go on to hit a solo home run in the eighth inning as well, but the five runs were well short of Minnesota’s 13. The Tigers did hit well on the night under pressure, however, going 5-for-10 with runners in scoring position and only leaving five stranded, which should be encouraging moving forward.

Willi Castro had another good night behind the plate, which is a great sign for Tigers fan. Castro has displayed the ability to hit the ball and field well so far. Travis Demeritte and Jake Rogers were also able to break their hitless streaks tonight, and Rogers even drove in a run. These performances will be important moving forward because many of these players will be fighting for roster spots in the future.

The series continues tomorrow at 6:10 p.m. EST. Matthew Boyd is scheduled to make the start for Detroit. He has had a rough go of things recently, while he is still getting his strikeouts, he has allowed a lot of runs and his ERA has risen to 4.53. He will look to turn things around against a powerful Twins lineup.