MINNEAPOLIS — Javier Báez and Spencer Torkelson each had two hits and drove in two runs to help the Detroit Tigers beat the Minnesota Twins 8-4 on Thursday night for just their second victory in 13 games.
Matt Vierling was 3 for 3 with a run and an RBI for the Tigers.
Matthew Boyd (4-5) survived a four-run second inning for the victory. He walked one and struck out eight over six innings.
Donovan Solano homered for the Twins, who had won four of their previous five.
Relievers Will Vest, Jason Foley and Alex Lange each pitched a scoreless inning to close out the Twins, who went 2 for 23 after Solano’s home run in the second inning gave them a 4-1 lead.
Twins starter Sonny Gray labored through four innings, including a 35-pitch fourth that spelled the end of his night. Reliever Jovani Moran (0-2) replaced Gray and gave up three runs in the fifth.
Detroit’s go-ahead rally began with one-out singles by Torkelson and Kerry Carpenter. Báez followed with a line drive into the alley in left-center that rolled all the way to the wall for a tying two-run triple.
Báez used his speed again to give Detroit the lead. With Minnesota’s infield drawn in, Nick Maton hit a two-hopper to second baseman Kyle Farmer. Báez left on contact, however, leaving Farmer no choice but to throw to first base to retire Maton.
The Tigers added three insurance runs in the ninth when Torkelson hit a two-run double and came around on Zack Short’s double.
The Tigers got on the board with a two-out rally in the second. After Gray retired the first two batters, Andy Ibáñez worked a full-count walk. He moved up a base on Miguel Cabrera’s single and scored on Matt Vierling’s base hit.
The Twins answered immediately with a two-out rally of their own. Willi Castro’s RBI single it, and Solano followed with a long fly ball that carried into the bullpen for a three-run homer.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Twins: DH Byron Buxton was back in the lineup hitting and hitting in the cleanup spot. He was activated earlier in the day after missing two weeks with bruised ribs.
UP NEXT
RHP Joe Ryan (7-3) is set to start for Minnesota against Detroit on Friday night. He's coming off a no-decision in Toronto, when he gave up three earned runs over six innings. Detroit hasn't announced a starter.
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