The first game of the Minnesota-Detroit series turned into Home Run Derby on Tuesday night.
The American League Central rivals combined for eight long balls — four by each team — but the host Tigers made better use of their homers in a 10-4 victory in the opener of a three-game series.
The teams will match up again on Wednesday night, with Minnesota looking to cool off a Detroit team that has won six of its last seven games.
Left-hander Framber Valdez (3-4, 4.21 ERA) will start for the Tigers in Game 2 of the series. He posted a win in his most recent start, but it didn’t come easily.
Valdez labored through five innings against Seattle on Friday, throwing 102 pitches in a 7-3 victory. He allowed five hits, two walks and also hit a batter, but the Mariners scored only once against him.
“I wasn’t putting my head down,” Valdez said through an interpreter. “I was trying to go as deep as I could, and it was in my mind, ‘I’m not going to let them score. I am not going to let them score.’ I am grateful for my teammates for scoring the runs and for making plays behind me to save runs.”
Familiarity between Valdez — who spent his career with Houston before signing with Detroit this past offseason — and the former American League West rival Mariners played a role in the long at-bats on Friday.
“He’s played them a lot through his whole career,” Tigers manager A.J. Hinch said. “He’s got a lot of history with that lineup, especially at the top. He had to battle and he did.”
Valdez will face Minnesota for the 10th time in his career. He has a 4-2 record and a 3.61 ERA in his previous nine outings.
Valdez endured one of his worst outings of the season against the Twins on April 8. He was pounded for eight runs and 10 hits in five innings.
The Twins, who have lost five of their past six games, have not announced a starter for Wednesday’s game. Minnesota’s staff will look to cool off Tigers catcher Dillon Dingler, who homered twice during a four-hit outburst on Tuesday.
Hinch has played mix-and-match with his roster in recent seasons, utilizing the versatility of players such as Matt Vierling, Zach McKinstry and Colt Keith.
Minnesota manager Derek Shelton is doing the same with his players. He notes that only Byron Buxton, an outstanding center fielder, is locked into a certain spot on the field.
“We have the ability to be more matchup-based,” Shelton told MLB.com. “Very similar to where we were earlier in the year. We had the ability to do that, and there’s a chance that we could definitely see that.
“Now, some of that’s also going to come with performance. You still have to perform to be able to get that. But we could definitely be more matchup-based with the way our roster’s constructed right now.”
Buxton returned to the lineup with a bang on Tuesday. He hit Troy Melton’s first pitch of the contest for his 19th homer of the season.
Buxton had been out of the lineup the previous two games. He sustained a right shoulder contusion while crashing into the wall against Kansas City on Friday.
Buxton remains hopeful the team can make a playoff run.
“We have to push each other day-in and day-out to make sure we get where we want to get to,” Buxton told The Minnesota Star Tribune.
–Field Level Media
