The Tigers continue to look like a team on a mission.
Saturday, the Tigers won another game in dramatic fashion as Brandon Inge hit a walk-off home run in the bottom of the ninth to send the Tigers to a 3-2 victory of the Minnesota Twins.
It was only the third home run of the season for Inge who spent time in Toledo with the Mud Hens but it was his second walk-off home run on the season.
Saturday’s victory marked the eighth straight for the Tigers which have all come over AL Central division opponents. This is also their 18th win in their past 22 games. More importantly though the Tigers’ magic number to an AL Central division title fell to nine games. This means that Detroit only has to win 9 of their final 17 games to clinch the division. This would still hold true even if the Indians and White Sox were to go undefeated the rest of the way.
Scherzer allowed two runs on five hits and three walks in seven innings pitched. He struck out six.
Swarzak gave up two runs on four hits and two walks in six innings. He also struck out six.
| Minnesota | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | LOB | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revere, CF | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .249 |
| Plouffe, SS | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | .235 |
| Mauer, DH | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .292 |
| Valencia, 3B | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | .247 |
| Parmelee, 1B | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | .357 |
| Benson, RF | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | .133 |
| Dinkelman, LF | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | .308 |
| Hughes, L, 2B | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | .237 |
| Rivera, R, C | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .152 |
| a-Tosoni, PH | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | .170 |
| Butera, C | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .163 |
| Totals | 29 | 2 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 8 | 9 | .245 |
a-Struck out for Rivera, R in the 7th.
| Detroit | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | LOB | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jackson, A, CF | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | .254 |
| Dirks, RF | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | .256 |
| Young, D, LF | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | .273 |
| Cabrera, Mi, 1B | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .329 |
| Martinez, V, DH | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .326 |
| Avila, C | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | .300 |
| Peralta, Jh, SS | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | .304 |
| Betemit, 3B | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .285 |
| Inge, 3B | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .194 |
| Santiago, 2B | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .261 |
| Totals | 32 | 3 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 7 | 8 | .274 |
2B: Benson (1, Scherzer).
HR: Mauer (3, 4th inning off Scherzer, 0 on, 0 out).
TB: Mauer 5; Parmelee; Benson 3.
RBI: Mauer (30), Valencia (68).
Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Hughes, L; Tosoni.
SF: Valencia.
GIDP: Parmelee.
Team RISP: 0-for-5.
Team LOB: 4.BASERUNNING
CS: Benson (1, 2nd base by Scherzer/Avila).
PO: Benson (1st base by Scherzer).
2B: Dirks (11, Swarzak), Santiago (10, Capps).
HR: Betemit (7, 3rd inning off Swarzak, 0 on, 1 out), Inge (3, 9th inning off Perkins, 0 on, 2 out).
TB: Dirks 2; Martinez, V; Betemit 4; Inge 4; Santiago 3.
RBI: Betemit (44), Martinez, V (90), Inge (22).
2-out RBI: Martinez, V; Inge.
Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Dirks 2.
Team RISP: 1-for-5.
Team LOB: 6.FIELDING
DP: (Cabrera, Mi-Peralta, Jh-Scherzer).
Pickoffs: Scherzer (Benson at 1st base).
| Minnesota | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | ERA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Swarzak | 6.0 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 1 | 3.89 |
| Capps | 1.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4.04 |
| Burnett, Al | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5.33 |
| Perkins(L, 4-4) | 0.2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2.72 |
| Totals | 8.2 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 7 | 2 | 4.53 |
| Detroit | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | ERA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scherzer | 7.0 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 1 | 4.27 |
| Coke | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4.47 |
| Alburquerque(W, 6-1) | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2.09 |
| Totals | 9.0 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 8 | 1 | 4.11 |
Pitches-strikes: Swarzak 94-57, Capps 18-12, Burnett, Al 8-6, Perkins 7-4, Scherzer 118-71, Coke 12-10, Alburquerque 13-9.
Groundouts-flyouts: Swarzak 4-4, Capps 1-1, Burnett, Al 1-1, Perkins 1-1, Scherzer 4-9, Coke 3-0, Alburquerque 0-0.
Batters faced: Swarzak 24, Capps 5, Burnett, Al 3, Perkins 3, Scherzer 27, Coke 3, Alburquerque 3.
Umpires: HP: Jerry Layne. 1B: Bob Davidson. 2B: Mike Muchlinski. 3B: Brian Knight.
Weather: 70 degrees, partly cloudy.
Wind: 4 mph, R to L.
T: 2:53.
Att: 38,567.
Source: Mlive.com, MLB.com