The Twins solved Tarik Skubal on Thursday night at Target Field, but only briefly. And it wasn’t nearly enough.
The Twins got to Skubal, the ace left-hander who entered Thursday’s game a top candidate for the American League Cy Young Award and AL-leading 2.35 earned-run average, for three runs and a 3-0 lead in the third inning. But the Tigers rallied against Bailey Ober won it, 4-3, in the 11th on Gleyber Torres’ sacrifice fly off Erasmo Ramirez.
It was the fifth win in seven games for the AL Central leaders, and pushed to fourth-place Twins to 13 games out. The Twins went down in order in their half of the 11th against Rafael Monterro. Ryan Jeffers was called out on a check swing to start the inning, and manager Rocco Baldelli was ejected, his 18th as the Twins’ skipper, after coming out to argue the call.
The Twins had a chance to win it in the 10th.
With courtesy runner Alan Roden on second, pinch-hitter Mickey Gasper laid down a sacrifice put to move Roden to third, and with the Tigers’ infield drawn in, Austin Martin dropped a check-swing bunt to first baseman Spencer Torkelson, who cut down Gasper at home plate. Byron Buxton then lined out to short.
After four Twins relievers combined to pitch a scoreless 3⅔ innings, Brooks Lee hit a two-out double off of left-hander Tyler Holton in the ninth but was stranded there when Adam Roden flied out to left-center. The Twins had no right-handed hitters on the bench to face Holton, who fanned lefty Trevor Larnach before getting lefty Roden.
Bailey Ober was charged with three runs on four hits, including a two-run home run to Riley Greene in the fourth inning. The right-hander was pulled with one out in the sixth, but not before allowing the tying run on a double by leadoff hitter Javy Baez and RBI single by Colt Keith.
The Twins got to Skubal for three runs in the third inning, starting with a one-out, solo home run by Edouard Julien that landed in the plaza behind right field. It was the 13th homer allowed by Skubal this season, and first by a left-handed hitter.
Austin Martin followed with a double and scored on Buxton’s single to left to make it 2-0.
After Buxton moved to second on Ryan Jeffers’ groundout, Keaschall singled sharply to left to bring Buxton home for a 3-0 lead. Royce Lewis followed with a walk, but Trevor Larnach grounded out back to the pitcher to end the inning.
The Tigers wasted no time eating into that lead.
After Ober got Colt Keith on a popout and Gleyber Torres on a liner to right, Kerry Carpenter doubled into the right field corner and Greene hit a high, 90 mph fastball into the right-field plaza to make it 3-2.
Ober retired the next four batters he faced before allowing a leadoff double to Javy Baez to start the sixth inning. Baez scored on a single by Keith, and Ober got Torres on a fly ball to center. But that was it for Ober, pulled for left-hander Kody Funderburk.
Funderburk got out of the inning by sandwiching a walk to Greene between a groundout by Carpenter and flyball to right by Spencer Torkelson.
Michael Tompkin pitched a 1-2-3 eighth for the Twins.
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