Brooks Lee pulled a two-run single through the right side of the infield, and the Minnesota Twins held on for a 3-1 win over the Detroit Tigers on Thursday afternoon in Minneapolis.
Josh Bell went 3-for-4 and hit a solo home run for Minnesota, which completed a four-game sweep over the Tigers.
Gleyber Torres drove in the lone run for Detroit, which has dropped five straight games.
Twins right-hander Garrett Acton (1-0) earned his first career win after allowing one run in two innings of relief. He followed starter Mick Abel, who pitched six scoreless innings.
Tigers right-hander Will Vest (0-2) gave up two runs on three hits in two-thirds of an inning.
Twins right-hander Eric Orze pitched a scoreless ninth for his first save of the season.
Lee delivered the go-ahead hit with the bases loaded and two outs in the bottom of the eighth. He fell behind Vest 0-2 before working the count full and knocking a single to right.
The Twins grabbed a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the fourth. Bell led off the inning against Tigers starter Jack Flaherty and ripped the first pitch he saw 401 feet over the wall in right-center field. The blast marked his third home run since signing with Minnesota in the off-season.
The Tigers evened the score at 1-all in the top of the seventh. Jake Rogers started the action when he was hit by a pitch with one out. Moments later, Rogers advanced from first to third on a single by Colt Keith. Torres lifted a sacrifice fly to right field to drive in Rogers and tie the game.
Flaherty pitched 5 2/3 innings, allowing one run on five hits and three walks. He fanned six Twins, but only threw 50 strikes on 89 pitches.
Tigers center fielder Parker Meadows had to be carted off the field after a scary collision in the bottom of the eighth. Meadows and Riley Greene converged on Bell’s fly ball that was slicing toward the gap in left-center field, and Greene made the catch but his head clipped the side of Meadows’ face.
Meadows stayed down and rolled on his back as trainers attended to him. He eventually sat up and walked a few steps slowly to a cart that took him out of the game.
–Field Level Media
