The Detroit Tigers scored in six-of-eight innings to defeat the Minnesota Twins 13-1. It helped that the Tigers racked up 20 hits and 13 runs, without making an error. Minnesota was only able to tally five hits and one run, but their two errors did not help their cause on Thursday afternoon.
"We've been kind of waiting for this, I think everybody has," manager Brad Ausmus said. "Players, coaching staff, fans, I think everyone was kind of waiting for the offense to kind of break out a little bit."
The Tigers sent Anibal Sanchez to the hill to face the Twins. He went 8.0 innings strong and gave up just one earned run on five hits and one walk. The righty struck out nine Twins over 111 total pitches. He is now 3-4 with a 4.76 ERA.
Sanchez got help throughout the entire game from the entire order. Ever starting hitter, except Yoenis Cespedes, got at least one hit in the victory.
Anthony Gose led off for the Tigers and went 4-for-5 with a walk and two runs scored. It was his first career four-hit day.
Miguel Cabrera was the leader on Detroit's roster once again. He dominated with five RBI and two home runs on a 3-for-5 day in which he scored each time he got a hit. Miggy is now slashing .328/.437/.568 on the 2015 season.
Bryan Holaday went 3-for-5 in his first appearance since being called up from the Triple-A Toledo Mud Hens. The catcher scored one run, but racked up three RBI in the win. He is slugging 1.400 after launching a home run.
"We're trying to hold our own the best that we can when we're on the road," Minnesota manager Paul Molitor said. "A chance to come back and win this series, and they kind of dominated today."
The Twins scored their only run when Eduardo Escobar singled to right, which scored Kurt Suzuki in the fourth inning.
Mike Pelfrey started on Thursday and was totally shelled. He pitched 4.2 innings and gave up five runs (four earned runs) on 10 hits and two walks. The 31-year-old only struck out one hitter over 95 pitches. Pelfrey is now 3-1 with a 3.23 ERA.
"I'll take the blame for it -- that's fine," Pelfrey said. "That guy on the other side was pretty dominant today, so I needed to be better, and obviously wasn't good enough."