The Detroit Tigers took a two-hour bus ride to meet up with the Minnesota Twins for the second time this spring. AJ Hinch’s squad came away with a 12-3 victory over their division rival. Minnesota is a team that Detroit will see a lot of this season and is considered to be the biggest threat to win the division. If you missed the game this afternoon, no worries, here is a complete recap of all the action.
1st inning recap:
The Tigers’ productive first inning started with Zach McKinstry and Matt Vierling getting on base. Kerry Carpenter, who was hitting third in the lineup, drove McKinstry home on a soft single to left. It was followed up by Carson Kelly (double play) and Colt Keith grounding out to end the inning.
Through a half inning, the Tigers earned a 1-0 lead.
Casey Mize, one of Detroit’s key players this season, returned to the mound and maintained The Tigers’ lead in a 17-pitch first inning. Mize struck out Edouard Julien, got star outfielder Byron Buxton to fly out, and walked Carlos Correa before retiring Royce Lewis to end the inning.
Detroit took their 1-0 lead into the 2nd inning.
2nd inning recap:
The Tigers got off to another great start in the 2nd inning with a walk from Justyn-Henry Malloy followed by three straight hits from Keston Hiura, Wenceel Pérez, and Ryan Kriedler, who drove home Malloy. The lineup flipped over back to the top for McKinstry, and he was able to score Hiura with a sac fly. The infield was shifted in for Vierling with two runners in scoring position. Vierling hit a line drive to third base where Royce Lewis made a failed attempt at making a diving stop. Vierling’s single scored two more runs, giving Detroit a 5-0 lead. Carpenter grounded into a double play, ending the inning and stopping the bleeding for Minnesota.
Casey Mize looked sharp again in the 2nd inning retiring the Twins batters in order.
3rd inning recap:
Colt Keith walked, and Keston Hiura singled, creating a threat in the 3rd inning, but Wenceel Pérez grounded out and the Tigers failed to add to their lead.
Casey Mize kept it in cruise control once again, putting the Twins away in order in the bottom of the 3rd inning.
4th inning recap:
Ryan Kriedler was hit by a pitch to start the 4th inning, and McKinstry followed him with a single to right field. Kriedler, who made it to third base on McKinstry’s base hit, scored on a sac fly from Vierling. With a man on, Carson Kelly muscled up and hit a two-run blast to left field, giving the Tigers an 8-0 lead.
Mize was working on another 1-2-3 inning before Wenceel Pérez committed an error while battling the sun in center field. Mize struck out Carlos Santana to end the inning and maintained an 8-0 lead for Detroit.
5th inning recap:
New Twins pitcher Jay Jackson came in and, with help from his defense, retired the Tigers in order, and it took just seven pitches.
After the leadoff man made his way on base, Mize retired the next two hitters and was replaced by Alex Faedo after 69 pitches.
It took Faedo two pitches to get Gonzalez to fly out to right field.
6th inning recap:
After Jay Jackson sat down the first two Tigers hitters in the 6th, he was replaced by LHP Steven Okert, who had a rude welcome from Matt Vierling. The Tigers versatile outfielder hit an opposite-field home run, his fourth RBI of the game, to make it 9-0 in favor of the Tigers. Okert rebounded by striking out Kerry Carpenter to end the inning.
Faedo, who has had a great spring, returned to the mound for the bottom of the 6th and made quick work of the Twins in a 1-2-3 inning.
7th inning recap:
Okert gave up a base hit to Colt Keith, but that would be all in the top of the 7th. He was able to keep the score 9-0.
Joey Wentz entered the game in the 7th inning and got two quick outs before giving up a solo home run to Ryan Jeffers.
Wentz struck out former Tigers infielder Willi Castro to end the inning. Heading into the stretch, the Tigers lead 9-1.
8th inning recap:
Ryan Vilade struck out against Brigham, the new Twins pitcher before Ryan Kriedler collected his second hit of the game with one out in the 8th. Jace Jung, one of the Tigers top prospects, had a good at-bat going but ultimately went down on strikes. Eddys Leonard, who has had a great spring, also struck out and that’s how the top half of the inning ended.
Joey Wentz recorded two quick outs before being replaced by Miguel Diaz. Nick Pratto welcomed Díaz with a single to right. Díaz would get the last laugh by ending the inning with a strikeout.
9th inning recap:
The first two batters for the Tigers reached against Alcala, who had just entered the game, and then Josh Crouch hammered a 3-run home run to left field extending the Tigers lead to 12-1.
It would end up being the last run the Tigers would score.
Miguel Diaz stayed in for the 9th and quickly gave up a run, making it 12-2 in favor of the Tigers. Back-to-back doubles plated another run, bringing Detroit’s advantage down to single digits. That would be all that Diaz would allow and the Tigers would be victorious on the road, powering their way past the Twins 12-3. Detroit collected their 16th win of spring training and will play the Mets tomorrow with Dan Dickerson making his spring debut on TV for Bally Sports Detroit.
