The Tigers finally slammed the door shut on their home turf Monday night, snagging a tight 5-4 win against the Minnesota Twins and grabbing a piece of sweet revenge after getting clobbered by them last week. After a brutal weekend of crushing, walk-off losses in Cleveland, Detroit was desperate to right the ship. Starting their series against a division rival with some much-needed momentum? Yeah, you love to see it.
Melton Holds His Own While Ryan Gets Racked Up
Troy Melton, who’s been having a sensational year for the Tigers, took the mound looking for redemption after getting absolutely drubbed in his previous start against these same Twins, giving up five earned runs in a 15-2 beatdown. On the other side, the Twins trotted out Joe Ryan for his twenty-fourth start of the season. Ryan has been a stalwart in their rotation since 2021, but this was his first game back after straining his left gluteus maximus back in early August. No joke, “straining your ass” is a real baseball injury, and it was clear from the jump he wasn’t going to go deep in this one.
The Twins wasted no time making noise in the first, with a leadoff plunking and a single. After a strikeout, they pulled off a double steal putting runners on second and third with just one out. A weak grounder to John Peck at shortstop turned into a high throw home, letting the annoying Luke Keaschall score from third. The Tigers were already behind, something they never were during that nightmare Cleveland series. But Kevin McGonigle wouldn’t stand for it, ripping a laser-beam line drive into the right-field seats to tie it up 1-1 in the bottom of the first.
Detroit Drops the Hammer in the Second
The Tigers kept the pressure on in the second inning. Zach McKinstry kicked things off with a triple to the right-field corner. Then Ryan completely lost the zone, walking Max Clark before hitting Peck and Colt Keith on consecutive pitches, which brought McKinstry home. McGonigle then hit a grounder to first, and the throw home was a little wild as Clark raced in to score, giving Detroit a 3-1 lead. It looked like they might blow the game wide open at that point, but a strikeout and a groundout stalled the rally.
Things quieted down until the top of the fourth when Trevor Larnach smacked a line-drive home run to right field with one out, cutting the Tigers’ lead to 3-2. After those early plunkings and the fielder’s choice in the second, Ryan did settle in a bit.
Ultimately, the Tigers held on for that tight 5-4 victory. This was just game one of a series against a division rival, and after getting beaten up last week and then going through that awful Cleveland weekend, taking this first one means everything. The momentum is huge going into the rest of the series, no doubt about it.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Bless You Boys.
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