Minnesota Twins cruise to 9-3 win against Detroit Tigers – MLB Update
Minnesota Twins secure a comprehensive 9-3 win against the Detroit Tigers at Target Field in Minneapolis, Minnesota on Monday, August 13 in the opening game of their three match series of the 2012 Major League Baseball regular season.
Starting pitcher Anibal Sanchez made another poor showing to take his second straight loss. He pitched five way-ward innings, allowing the Twins to establish complete control over the contest.
With 12 hits and five runs against Sanchez, Twins took a handsome lead and they kept the pressure on their opponents until the end of the game.
"I certainly know that he's a better pitcher than he's shown so far," Tigers’ manager Jim Leyland said.
Relief pitcher Phil Coke and Duane Below also paid the ultimate price for their errors as they gave up three hits and three runs in just one innings of relief.
"We got our butts kicked today. That's the best way I can put it," Tigers’ catcher Alex Avila said.
Miguel Cabrera, Delmon Young and Jhonny Peralta made valuable contributions with the bat but the Tigers never looked in control offensively.
Minnesota’s starting pitcher Samuel Deduno registered his fourth win of the season after striking-out six batters in seven solid innings. Reliever Jeff Grey pitched the perfect ninth to wrap up an impressive Twins’ win.
"He was buckling some guys over on that side," Gardenhire said. "That's not the norm for the Detroit Tigers. He was throwing some breaking balls, they were swinging and the ball was just disappearing. That tells you a lot about his stuff."
"He had some nasty stuff and was kind of effectively wild today," Avila said. "We just couldn't square him up."
Tigers’ Manager Jim Leyland, in particular, will be very frustrated with what he saw from the team on Monday evening. Tigers needed to win on a regular basis to have any chance of replacing the Chicago White Sox at the top of American League Central Division
standings table.
Leyland and company were in a similar position last year when they went on to win the AL Central title. However, the White Sox are looking more determined than before and they will not give up their first place without a fight.
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