MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Niko Goodrum homered twice and drove in four runs, Jonathan Schoop hit a solo homer and the Detroit Tigers rallied to beat the Minnesota Twins 10-7 on Thursday night in a slugfest with seven homers.
Dustin Garneau’s sacrifice fly and Willi Castro’s RBI single capped an eighth-inning comeback for Detroit, which snapped a four-game skid and avoided the series sweep.
Alex Lange (1-3) earned the win with 1 1/3 innings of perfect relief, recording two strikeouts. Michael Fulmer allowed a leadoff double to Byron Buxton in the ninth, and earned his 13th save.
Minnesota reliever Ralph Garza Jr. (1-4) walked the first two batters in the eighth inning and gave up an RBI double to Harold Castro. Garza didn’t retire a batter in his outing after the Twins had built a 7-6 lead following Buxton’s second home run of the game.
Josh Donaldson added a three-run homer and Brent Rooker added a solo shot for Minnesota.
Two promising young hurlers started in the game that evolved into a slugfest.
Detroit's Tarik Skubal surrendered a solo homer to Buxton leading off the first, and Donaldson connected for his 25th of the season in the third.
Minnesota’s Joe Ryan, who had struck out the last seven batters he faced in his last outing, had four strikeouts in the first two innings. But Goodrum connected to lead off the third and capped a four-run fourth with a three-run homer.
RARE COMPANY
Schoop became the third from Curaçao to play in 1,000 major league games. Schoop, who extended his hitting streak to 11 games, joined Andruw Jones (2,196) and Twins shortstop Andrelton Simmons (1,189).
TRAINER’S ROOM
Tigers: OF Derek Hill was scheduled to see a specialist in San Francisco on Thursday to determine the next step with his left knee sprain. The specialist will determine if Hill needs a clean-up procedure or full surgery.
UP NEXT
Tigers: Detroit finishes the season on the road against the Chicago White Sox. Wily Peralta (4-4, 3.08 ERA) starts Friday. The right-hander has allowed two earned runs or less in his last six starts. Chicago is scheduled to start Lance Lynn.
Twins: RHP John Gant (5-10, 3.74) will start Friday as Minnesota travels to Kansas City. Gant is 1-4 with a 4.55 ERA in 13 games and six starts with the Twins since coming over at the trade deadline from St. Louis for J.A. Happ. The Royals hadn’t announced a starter.
