Twins at Tigers
It was only a matter of time before the Minnesota Twins broke the all-time home run record, and the only downside was that the record blast came in a loss. The Twins will try to bash their way to a victory when they visit the Detroit Tigers for the third of a four-game series on Sunday.
Minnesota smacked six home runs in Saturday's setback to reach 268 blasts on the season, breaking the record of 267 set by the 2018 New York Yankees, with Mitch Garver's second home of the game serving as the record-breaking blast. The 10-7 loss snapped a six-game winning streak, but the Twins remain 4 1/2 games ahead of the Cleveland Indians in the American League Central in front of a rough stretch of schedule in which they will play 12 straight against teams with winning records after finishing up with Detroit. The Tigers snapped a six-game slide with Saturday's victory and became the last team in the majors to reach 40 wins. Detroit will try to make it 41 behind right-hander Spencer Turnbull on Sunday while Minnesota counters with veteran righty Michael Pineda.
TV: 1:10 p.m. ET, FS North (Minnesota), FS Detroit
PITCHING MATCHUP: Twins RH Michael Pineda (10-5, 4.16 ERA) vs. Tigers RH Spencer Turnbull (3-13, 4.18)
Pineda won his fourth straight decision on Tuesday by holding the Chicago White Sox to one run in five innings while striking out eight and scattering four hits. The Dominican Republic native allowed three or fewer runs in eight of his last nine outings, lowering his ERA from 5.02 to 4.18 in that span. Pineda is 1-0 in three starts against Detroit this season while surrendering a total of nine runs in 17 innings.
Turnbull is looking for his first win since May 31 but pitched better than his record would indicate in that span, holding opponents to three or fewer runs in eight of his last 12 starts but posting an 0-9 record in that span. The 26-year-old was not quite as strong in his last two turns, allowing Houston and Cleveland a total of nine runs and 13 hits in eight frames. Turnbull last saw Minnesota on May 11 and yielded two runs on four hits and four walks in 5 2/3 innings without factoring in the decision.
WALK-OFFS
1. Twins SS Jorge Polanco hit his 20th home run on Saturday, giving the team eight players with at least 20 blasts.
2. Detroit INF Ronny Rodriguez is 4-for-8 with three home runs in the last two contests.
3. Minnesota DH Nelson Cruz is 7-for-13 with six RBIs in the last three games.