The Detroit Tigers took down the Minnesota Twins thanks to second baseman Ian Kinsler, who had an outstanding game. He led off the game with a home run and tied the game in the sixth with an RBI groundout. In the eighth inning, he won the game with an eighth inning two-out RBI double.
"Water finds its level," Tigers manager Brad Ausmus said. "And I think that Kinsler's going to get hot."
Kinsler has not been hot all season. He is hitting .264/.331/.352 with two home runs and 36 RBI. However, if he continues to smash the ball he could get up to .300 very quickly.
In the eighth, his RBI double was almost gone. It hit the top of the left centerfield wall, but was good enough to plate Anthony Gose.
"I thought it was gone," Kinsler said.
Mike Pelfrey started for Minnesota and gave up four runs on eight hits. Pelfrey took the loss and is now 5-6 with a 4.00 ERA.
Yoenis Cespedes, who is in the American League All-Star final voting, doubled to right field to score Kinsler and give the Tigers a cushon.
"A huge add-on run with so little time left in the game," Ausmus said. "The difference between a one run and two run lead with six outs to go is enormous."
David Price toed the slab for the Tigers, but was not too hot until the later innings. Price finished with eight innings and gave up two runs (zero earned runs) on five hits and three walks. The southpaw struck out eight in the win. He is now 9-2 with a 2.38 ERA.
"I didn't feel as good tonight as I have previous starts," Price said. "I didn't have my command early on but in the fifth inning, things started clicking for me."
Nick Castellanos made the error in the fifth inning, it was a line drive. It allowed Brian Dozier to reach first base. He later scored on a Trevor Plouffe RBI single. With two outs, Torii Hunter singled off Castellanos' glove to score Plouffe.
I think generally those are balls that even Nick would tell you he should have caught," Ausmus said.
Joakim Soria got his 20th save of the season after giving up just on hit in the ninth inning.
When Price starts, the Tigers are 15-3 this season.
"On my day, I want us to win," he said.
Marc Krauss went 1-for-3 in his second start at first base for the Tigers. Karuss, Jefry Marte and catcher Alex Avila have split time in the absence of Miguel Cabrera, who was slated to be the starting first baseman at the 2015 All-Star game. In his first game for the Tigers, Krauss went 1-for-4 with a home run. Hopefully, the Tigers can toy with the lineup enough to keep them running until Miggy returns.