*Photo from the Tacoma News Tribune*
The biggest impacts of this game were made by new acquisitions, and that's ultimately the goal in the end. Carlos Correa brought in a run, Sandy Leon drove in two runs, and the Minnesota Twins defeated the Detroit Tigers with a 4-1 victory on Wednesday afternoon in Minneapolis.
After acquiring Jorge Lopez, Tyler Mahle, Michael Fulmer, and Sandy Leon at the trade deadline, the Twins got contributions from all but Mahle in this one, chugging to their 5th win in the last 10 games, continuing to lead the AL Central with a 55-49 record. Most important were two RBI's from Leon, which proved to be the two winning runs in the end.
After the game, Leon said that "I’m going to do anything I can to help the team win, hitting or catching. I know catching’s my strong point, but I feel good hitting. I’ll stick with my approach, get a good pitch to hit and try to help my team there, too."
Starting the scoring for the Twins in this one was Leon. In the second inning, Leon doubled to left field, plating Nick Gordon and Jose Miranda to make it a 2-0 lead for the Twins. It stayed 2-0 until the 5th inning, when Riley Greene got the Tigers on the board with an RBI single to center field, scoring Willi Castro to make it a 2-1 game.
Once the 6th inning rolled around, Correa got the Twins an insurance run. He singled to center field, scoring Byron Buxton to double the Twins lead to 3-1 after 2/3 of the game. In the 8th, Buxton scored again, this time on a sac fly from Gio Urshela, making it a 4-1 lead for the Twins, all but sealing the win.
Rookie Joe Ryan got the start in this one for the Twins. Ryan got the win, allowing one run on 3 hits, striking out 9 hitters over 5 innings. Fulmer was first out of the bullpen with a scoreless 6th inning, followed by appearances from Caleb Thielbar and Jhoan Duran. Lopez pitched the 9th and got the save.
Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said of Fulmer and Lopez that "We saw some elite sliders from Fulmer. We saw López go out and have as dominant and clean of an inning as you want to see. It's exciting to turn the ball over to those guys, let them do their thing out there."
Getting the start for the Tigers was Tyler Alexander. He got the loss after allowing two runs on two hits and one walk in 5 innings pitched. Jose Cisnero allowed one run in the 6th inning, as did Derek Law in the 8th. Andrew Chafin pitched a scoreless 7th inning for the Tigers.
Tigers manager AJ Hinch said that "He beat us, Joe Ryan did today, with fastballs in the zone. It’s one thing when you chase, it’s another when you get beat in the zone. When you swing and miss like that, it’s hard to produce offensively."
Up next, the Twins welcome the Toronto Blue Jays to town on Thursday night, with Sonny Gray getting the start. The Tigers head home to face the Tampa Bay Rays on Thursday, with Drew Hutchison lined up to get the start.
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