The Minnesota Twins suddenly look like a team poised to make a playoff push.
The Twins (67-72) moved within 3 1/2 games of the Cleveland Guardians for the final wild-card spot in the American League by hammering the Detroit Tigers 15-2 on Tuesday in Minneapolis.
After outscoring the Tigers 26-3 in the first two games, Minnesota will go for the sweep against Detroit (63-75) on Wednesday.
Royce Lewis led the charge Tuesday, going 3-for-4 with a three-run homer in a 10-run sixth inning. He was a triple away from hitting for the cycle.
“I’m speechless,” Lewis said. “It was fun to watch and this Twins team is very special. You just think ‘wow’ with another hit and another hit and another hit.
“I just went up there wanting to see the ball and hit it and I’m feeling good right now. This is a crazy game. You just have to come back every day. We are getting hot at the right time and can make a push into the playoffs.”
The Twins will turn to right-hander Dean Kremer (2-5, 5.60 ERA) in the series finale.
Minnesota has lost three straight games in which Kremer started, including a 7-4 decision to the Chicago White Sox on Friday.
Kremer, 30, gave up six runs (five earned) in four innings. His last win came on Aug. 10, allowing one run on one hit in seven innings against the Baltimore Orioles.
He is 0-4 with a 9.14 ERA in four career appearances (three starts) against the Tigers. He was shelled by Detroit on July 28, yielding eight runs on as many hits in four innings of a 14-0 rout.
Detroit will counter with right-hander Drew Anderson (4-5, 3.87), who has made 45 appearances (seven starts) this season.
Anderson’s last win came on July 23, a 4-3 decision against the Kansas City Royals.
He has a 2.45 ERA without a decision in two career appearances against the Twins.
The Tigers have lost seven in a row on the road and 14 of their last 17 games overall.
“We didn’t lose this game because we are a young team,” manager A.J. Hinch said Tuesday. “We just didn’t execute on the mound. We are feeling pretty low right now, not in a good place. We have to go home again tonight with a tough loss and a lot to think about. We just could not avoid the big inning again tonight.”
The Tigers jumped out to an early lead by manufacturing a run in the top of the first, but the Twins forged a tie on Kody Clemens’ homer in the bottom of the inning. Minnesota scored three runs in the fifth inning before putting the game away in the sixth.
The fifth-inning rally was sparked when Gold Glove catcher Dillon Dingler botched a run-down play, throwing the ball into left field to allow two runs to score.
“He got caught with his feet in the wrong step and just made a bad throw,” Hinch said. “It is the way things have been going for us in this stretch. We get an easy out and we blow the play and they score two runs.”
–Field Level Media
