Field Level Media
24 May 2022, 20:55 GMT+10
Max Kepler continues to enhance his reputation as a Detroit Tigers killer.
The Minnesota right fielder has seven homers against the Tigers since the start of last season, including a grand slam in Minnesota's 5-4 victory over Detroit on Monday.
The Twins, who are riding a five-game winning streak, will pursue another victory over the Tigers on Tuesday night in Minneapolis.
Kepler hit three homers against Detroit during Minnesota's three-game home sweep in April. He blasted his grand slam in the first inning on Monday, then scored the winning run in the ninth after drawing a leadoff walk.
"He, from the start, has seen the ball well," Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said. "He's stayed pretty balanced in his approach and just what he's trying to do in different at-bats.
"Obviously, a big swing today from him, but the at-bats overall have been high-, high-level stuff from him all season. He's been sitting there in the middle of the lineup for us, and he's come up big-time and time again, and this was another big day for him."
Kepler is batting .262 with six homers and 22 RBIs this season. He has scored seven runs and knocked in seven more during the winning streak.
Right-hander Sonny Gray (1-1, 3.48 ERA) will attempt to keep the Twins rolling when he starts Tuesday. Gray collected his first win with Minnesota on Wednesday, holding Oakland to two runs on six hits with no walks in six innings.
Gray began his career with the Athletics.
"I had never beaten the A's before," Gray said, "so I really wanted to -- selfishly, personally -- wanted to do that."
He retired the last 10 batters he faced.
"In about the third inning, I was like, 'All right, now it's time to go,'" Gray said. "I started throwing the ball a little bit harder. I started getting after it a little more. I felt great."
Gray has faced Detroit six times in his career, including five starts, posting a 2-1 record and 3.23 ERA.
The Tigers are expected to start right-hander Rony Garcia (0-0, 2.57) in the second game of the three-game series. Against the Twins in his career, he is 0-0 with a 13.50 ERA in three appearances.
Detroit had five players collect two hits apiece as it slowly erased a 4-0 deficit on Monday. However, the Tigers finished 2-for-9 with runners in scoring position and left nine on base.
"We had a lot of opportunities, but we needed a lot of opportunities to chip away and make it a game," Detroit manager A.J. Hinch said. "That was a tough start for us. I thought we outplayed them, other than the first inning and the last inning. Unfortunately, they made the most of their opportunities and each of their scoring innings started with a walk."
The Tigers are 0-4 against Minnesota this season, all on the road.
"It's obviously a tough loss," Hinch said. "We've had a couple of tough losses in this ballpark."
--Field Level Media
Get a daily dose of Herald Globe news through our daily email, its complimentary and keeps you fully up to date with world and business news as well.
Publish news of your business, community or sports group, personnel appointments, major event and more by submitting a news release to Herald Globe.
More InformationDUBAI, UAE: The Arab states have built significant amounts of solar and wind power installations, and are in line to ...
LONDON, England: A second referendum on Scottish independence is set to be held in October 2023. The Scottish government, led ...
LISBON, Portugal: Tuvalu Foreign Minister Simon Kofe walked out of the opening cermonies of this week's United Nations Ocean Conference ...
SULAWESI, Indonesia: Using just a rope, an Indonesian man, supported by fellow villagers on the island of Sulawesi, captured a ...
WATFORD, UK: Watford F.C. has cancelled a friendly match against the Qatar national team due to the Gulf country's human ...
ISTANBUL, Turkey: Turkish police detained dozens of people after local authorities banned Istanbul's annual Pride parade from going ahead this ...
BLAST announced that this year's Premier World Final will be staged in Abu Dhabi, UAE. The world championship will be ...
Rookie Christopher Morel homered for a third straight game, during a go-ahead, three-run sixth inning, and four Chicago relievers held ...
A pair of recent NHL head coaches joined the Vancouver Canucks' staff on Friday. The team announced Mike Yeo, most ...
The Milwaukee Brewers placed right-handed pitcher Adrian Houser on the 15-day injured list with a right flexor strain, the team ...
The Houston Astros placed catcher Jason Castro on the 10-day injured list Friday due to left knee discomfort. Castro, 35, ...
Cleveland could soon have a decision to make on restricted free agent Collin Sexton, Hoops Wire reported. According to the ...