 during the game.Ronny Rodriguez hit a pair of two-run homers for the Tigers, who snapped a six-game skid and halted a six-game winning streak by the AL Central-leading Twins. Detroit sent 12 men to the plate in the third.Matthew Boyd (7-10) allowed five runs and six hits in six innings for Detroit. He struck out 11 with one walk.Martin Perez (9-6) allowed seven earned runs in 2 2/3 innings.Minnesota led 2-1 in the bottom of the third, but with one out, Perez allowed eight straight hitters to reach base. Miguel Cabrera put the Tigers up 3-2 with an RBI double, and Rodriguez followed with a two-run shot.Victor Reyes had two hits in the inning, including a run-scoring single that made it 8-2.Garver led off the game with a towering home run to left field, and after the Tigers answered with an unearned run, Kepler put the Twins up 2-1 with his 36th homer of the year.Only one of Minnesota's home runs came with anyone on base, a two-run shot by Polanco in the fifth that made it 8-4.After Cruz tied the record with a 450-foot home run to the bushes beyond the wall in center, the Twins loaded the bases in the eighth, but Jose Cisnero struck out pinch hitter Luis Arraez to end the threat with Detroit up 10-6.TRAINER'S ROOMTwins: Manager Rocco Baldelli said RHP Michael Pineda is in a good spot right now in terms of his innings and should be fine going forward. Pineda missed all of last season after Tommy John surgery. He has thrown 134 innings in 2019.Tigers: Cabrera was in the lineup for the first time since Tuesday, when he left with tightness in his left biceps.UP NEXTTwins: Pineda (10-5) takes the mound Sunday in the third game of this four-game series.Tigers: Spencer Turnbull (3-13) starts for Detroit.---Follow Noah Trister at www. Twitter.com/noahtrister---More MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB and https://twitter.com/-Sports)
Twins pursue homer mark in DetroitFLMOutfielder Max Kepler wishes the Minnesota Twins could break the single-season major league home run record at home.It's unlikely the Twins will slow down that much.The Twins hit another homer Friday in the opener of a four-game series at Detroit. Minnesota also plays a three-game series at Boston next week before returning home next weekend to face Cleveland."I don't think many of us thought it would be possible at the start of the year," said Kepler, who has a career-high 35 long balls this season. "I hope we can do it at home, but on the pace the guys are at in this clubhouse, I don't know if we can hold off until we get back home." Minnesota has 262 homers, five shy of the single-season mark set by the New York Yankees last season.Kepler returned to the lineup and scored three runs on Friday after missing two starts due to right knee soreness. The Twins won 13-5, their sixth consecutive victory and eighth straight on the road.Jake Cave, who hit a pair of solo homers in the Twins' 10-5 win over the White Sox on Thursday, was slotted in the No. 9 spot on Friday.That's an example of the power distribution throughout the order."We have dangerous guys up and down the lineup, from the guys in the one hole all the way down to the very bottom of the lineup," manager Rocco Baldelli said. "No matter what inning it is or who's leading off, you have the opportunity to do damage." Minnesota left-hander Martin Perez (9-5, 4.53 ERA) will start the second game of the four-game series. Perez has endured control issues, yet he has allowed just four earned runs in 17 innings over his past three outings.He limited Detroit to two runs on five hits in six innings at Minnesota on Sunday and was credited with the victory. He walked one batter after issuing four apiece against Texas and Milwaukee.Perez is 2-3 with a 5.50 ERA in seven career outings, including six starts, against the Tigers.He'll be opposed once again by Tigers left-handed ace Matthew Boyd (6-10, 4.47 ERA), who self-destructed in that 7-4 loss. He only gave up four hits in six innings, but five walks led to him surrendering a season-high seven runs.Boyd fretted about his mechanics during the outing, and that led to trouble."You never know what the results are going to be, but you want to put yourself in the best position to have success -- and for me that's attacking the glove," Boyd told the Detroit News. "I got a little out of sync and got away from what was in front of me. I was worrying about what was happening on the rubber instead of what was in front of me, and when that happens, you're not reading swings and you get out of that attack-on-every-pitch mindset." He also gave up two more home runs. Opponents have hit 32 off him this season, just two fewer than the Tigers' single-season record."That's an area he has to improve, and I know he knows he can," manager Ron Gardenhire said. "It's about making quality pitches in bigger situations. But he's a pretty darn good pitcher and he's got great stuff. He will make the adjustment." Boyd has started a total of 18 times against the Twins, going 6-6 with a 4.71 ERA. He'll try to end Detroit's six-game skid.--Field Level Media
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