The Detroit Tigers wish the All-Star break had started a few days earlier.
They squandered a four-run lead on Saturday in a 9-4 loss to the Twins, their third straight. Joe Jimenez gave up a go-ahead, three-run homer to Jorge Polanco in the seventh.
They’ll try to salvage the finale of the four-game series on Sunday before getting four days off.
Niko Goodrum and Zack Short hit back-to-back homers in the second inning. Eric Haase and Jeimer Candelario struck out in the eighth with a runner on third and the Tigers trailing by a run.
Minnesota then tacked on four more runs in the bottom of the inning.
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Late addition provides early spark
Short was not on AJ Hinch’s original lineup card.
He was inserted into the No. 8 spot after Nomar Mazara was scratched due to an illness. Goodrum,scheduled to play shortstop, moved to the outfield to get Short in the lineup.
Short quickly took advantage in his first at-bat, drilling a 2-2 pitch from 6-foot-9 Bailey Ober just over the wall in left. Short, who had two hits, was 1-for-22 this month prior to his third homer of the season.
He added a sacrifice fly in the fourth to give the Tigers a 4-0 lead.
Jimenez endures form reversal
Jimenez had become one of the bullpen’s most reliable arms after a rocky start to his season. He inherited a 4-2 lead on Saturday and couldn’t hold it.
His outing unraveled after he retired the first batter he faced in the seventh. He then allowed singles to Andrelton Simmons and Luis Arraez before Polanco pounded a hanging slider over the right-field wall.
Jimenez had given up just six earned runs in his last 21 appearances, spanning 18 innings, after surrendering eight runs in his first three relief stints.
Cruz goes one base at a time
Longtime Tigers killer Nelson Cruz pulled out his short game on Saturday.
Cruz entered the contest with 26 homers in 114 regular-season games against Detroit. He smacked three singles, the final of which preceded Alex Kiriloff’s two-run blast off Erasmo Ramirez in the sixth. He walked in his last at-bat during the seventh.
Cruz, who hit three homers off the Tigers in April, had gone hitless in the first two games of the series.
Manning won’t make Triple A start
Hinch offered a clarification on Matt Manning, who was optioned to Triple A Toledo after his start on Friday night.
Manning won’t pitch for the Mud Hens. It’s part of a load management plan to keep the rookie’s innings down. He’s expected to return to the Tigers’ rotation during the home series against Texas on July 19-22.
“We’re saving as many innings in this rotation as we can for the back half of this season,” Hinch said. “Matt Manning’s going to be a part of that.”