Tigers rally from early 4-0 deficit but drop opener to Twins in ninth inning

Detroit News

Minneapolis — The Tigers had pushed across more than four runs in a game just twice this month and only six times all season.

So to say the least, spotting the Minnesota Twins a four-spot right out of the gate was sub-optimal.

But there they were Monday night, in a four-run hole five batters into the game when Tiger-slayer Max Kepler bushwhacked a change-up from rookie right-hander Elvin Rodriguez and drove 408 feet into the seats in right field – a grand slam home run.

The Detroiters did get those four runs back. The fifth run, though, remained elusive.

The Twins got to five first. With runners at first and third and one out in the bottom of the ninth against lefty reliever Andrew Chafin, Geo Urshela hit a ground ball off the glove of diving shortstop Javy Baez and the Twins took the first of a three-game set at Target Field 5-4.

“We do have a resilient team,” manager AJ Hinch said. “Our record doesn’t show it but our guys play the whole game. It doesn’t surprise me when we chip away. We had some good at-bats and it was encouraging.

“Tonight will feel hollow. But I’m proud of our guys for fighting back.”

It was the second time in four games this season the Twins beat the Tigers in a walk-off.

Chafin, who had allowed just one run in seven innings this month, was summoned to face left-handed hitting Kepler to lead off the ninth. Chafin walked him. The Twins then used right-handed pinch-hitters Kyle Garlick, who singled, and Gary Sanchez, who popped out.

BOX SCORE: Twins 5, Tigers 4

With runners at the corners and one out, Chafin got Urshela to hit a ground ball. It was maybe a few inches from being an inning-ending double-play.

“Walks kill you, man,” catcher Eric Haase said. “Even though we had the match-ups we liked, there’s a lot of pressure on you right from the get-go. But we had the match-up right there like you draw it up. Chafin got the ground ball and it was just a foot out of the way.”

Down 4-1, the Tigers scored single runs in the fifth, sixth and seventh.

Jonathan Schoop, who is heating up at the plate, hit a 430-foot home run to left field in the fifth inning, then doubled and scored the tying run in the seventh on an RBI single by Miguel Cabrera in the seventh.

Cabrera ripped two singles, moving him past Lou Brock and into 28th place all-time with 3,024.

Rookie Spencer Torkelson, who also had two hits, doubled off the right-center field wall with two outs in the sixth and scored on a single by Haase.

“We did fight back and we got a lot of opportunities, but we needed a lot of opportunities to be able to chip away,” Hinch said. “It was a tough start, for sure. I thought we outplayed them other than the first and last innings. Unfortunately, they made the most out of their opportunities.”

It was a rude welcome for Rodriguez, making his first big-league start. Acquired by the Tigers in 2017 for Justin Upton, Rodriguez walked two and gave up an infield single to Carlos Correa to set the table in the first inning.

MORE: Tigers, Hinch continue to seek healing on and off the ball field

He fell behind Kepler, too, missing with a change-up on the 1-0 pitch. He came back with another change-up on 2-0. Kepler, who at that point was slashing .417/.462/1.5 against the Tigers this season, didn’t miss it.

It was his fourth homer in four games against the Tigers.

“The game wasn’t over at that moment,” said Rodriguez, through Tigers bilingual interpreter Carlos Guillen. “I’ve got to be more aggressive and attack the hitters. That’s what I told myself.”

Rodriguez shook off that rocky start and set down 10 of next 11 hitters through the fourth with three strikeouts.

“I wasn’t nervous or jittery,” he said. “I was trying to be too perfect in what I was trying to do. I was trying to paint my pitches and be more precise than I needed to be…My biggest memory is going to be the adjustments I made after the first inning to keep my team in the game. That’s what will stay with me.”

Rodriguez got himself into another mess in the fifth, though, with a walk to Urshela and a two-out bloop single by Luis Arraez. Left fielder Willi Castro seemed to lose Arraez’s ball in the lights and the runners ended up at second and third.

That set up a confrontation with the ever-dangerous Carlos Correa. With first base open, and with left-handed hitting Jorge Polanco on deck, Hinch opted to attack his former shortstop Correa.

“You can create innings in your own way,” Hinch said. “The two innings they scored they created runs with walks. So I didn’t want to create a walk for them and give us no room for error. We have a young kid out there who did a great job of responding to some adversity early.”

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Pivotal moment.

Rodriguez fell into a 3-0 hole and worked it back to full. On the 3-1 pitch, though, he and catcher Haase miscommunicated on the sign.

“That was a cross-up,” Haase said. “We went through a couple of different signs trying to get on the right page. I was expecting a heater and he dropped a breaking ball. I just got some leather on it and keep it somewhat close and save a run.

“I’m happy with that, as ugly as it looked. I was happy I got some leather on it and keep it from going to the backstop.”

The pitch was a strike and Haase was able to keep the ball close enough to hold the runner at third.

On the 3-2 pitch, Rodriguez got Correa to hit a grounder to third baseman Harold Castro. Castro slipped as he was throwing to first but Torkelson, as he’s done all year, scooped the ball out of the dirt at first to secure the out and the scoreless inning, keeping the Tigers in striking range.

“Tough loss,” Hinch said. “We’ve had a couple of tough losses in this ballpark. They never quit.”

chris.mccosky@detroitnews.com

Twitter: @cmccosky

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