DETROIT _ It was a laborious Labor Day for Twins hitters, as they sputtered all afternoon with runners in scoring position and got perilously close to dropping Monday's game and splitting a four-game series to a Tigers team that will lose 100-something games this season.
But Max Kepler singled off Matt Hall with the bases loaded in the eighth inning, driving in two runs that pushed the Twins to a 4-3 win over Detroit. With the win, they moved to 7-2-2 in four-game series _ which isn't easy to do _ this season.
The Twins start a three-game series Tuesday in Boston having won six of seven games on the current road trip.
Down 3-2 in the eighth, the Twins got a leadoff walk from pinch hitter LaMonte Wade, Jr., followed by a sharp single to center by Luis Arraez. Tigers reliever Buck Farmer rallied to strike out C.J. Cron and Jake Cave but walked Ehire Adrianza to load the bases.
With Kepler coming to the plate, Tigers manager Ron Gardenhire went to lefthander Matt Hall, an interesting move considering that Kepler was batting better against lefties (.293) than righties (.241). And Kepler expertly stroked a 2-1 pitch to left-center, scoring the tying and eventual winning runs.
And that's 28 come-from-behind wins for the Twins. Zack Littlell (3-0) got the win. Taylor Rogers picked up his 22nd save.
With Cleveland idle Monday, the Twins now have a six-game lead in the AL Central.
The exquisite hitting with runners in scoring position from a day ago was not there Monday, as the Twins went 1-for-7 in those situations Monday. Eddie Rosario, batting .346 with runners in scoring position, left two men on in both the first and seventh. Tigers righthander Jordan Zimmermann, featuring a sinking fastball he's used more in the past month, held them to two runs through six innings of work. Hard-throwing lefthander Gregory Soto worked the seventh, getting Rosario to fly out with two on to end the inning.
Detroit led 1-0 on a Miguel Cabrera homer in the first. After that, Jake Odorizzi sailed into the fifth by overpowering the Tigers with fastballs in or above the top of the strike zone. In the third inning, 15 of Odorizzi's 18 pitches were four-seam fastballs that Tigers hitters struggled to catch up to.
The Twins took a 2-1 lead in the second on Adrianza's fifth homer, a two-run shot to right-center.
But the game changed in the fifth. Odorizzi had two strikes on the first two hitters, Dawel Lugo and Jordy Mercer. Each time, they hit grounders up the middle that got by a diving Arraez for singles. Travis Demeritte got a fastball that was with near the middle of the plate, which looked to be lower than Odorizzi intended to put it, and lined an RBI single to center that tied the score at 2-2.
Jake Rogers moved the runners over with a bunt, then Victor Reyes lofted a sacrifice fly to center to score Mercer with the lead run.
