Detroit Tigers' offense remains silent in 2-0 loss to Minnesota Twins to fall to 14-28
MINNEAPOLIS — Detroit Tigers left fielder Willi Castro fielded a single from Gio Urshela and lofted the ball to second baseman Jonathan Schoop on one hop. As this happened, Max Kepler raced around third base.
He was determined to score.
Shortstop Javier Báez directed Castro to throw the ball to Schoop, and by the time Schoop fired a bullet to catcher Tucker Barnhart, Kepler slid across the plate to score — all the way from first base — for the Minnesota Twins' first run.
The Tigers lost, 2-0, in the second of three games at Target Field, falling to 14-28 this season. They're 12½ games behind the first-place Twins in the American League Central.
Gio gets the #MNTwins on the board!! pic.twitter.com/pdD2zmYEG7
— Bally Sports North (@BallySportsNOR) May 25, 2022
Castro made two mistakes — but no errors — in the outfield, though his woes weren't the reason the Tigers dropped their fifth of five games against the Twins in 2022.
The offense remained in hibernation mode, posting five hits and one walk with 12 strikeouts. Schoop notched his second straight two-hit performance, boosting his batting average to .178 across 41 games. Miguel Cabrera also had two hits and is hitting .289 in 37 games.
Twins right-hander Sonny Gray pitched a gem, throwing seven scoreless innings on four hits and one walk with 10 strikeouts, using 95 pitches (68 strikes). When Gray departed, right-handed reliever Tyler Duffey delivered a perfect eighth out of the bullpen.
Righty Jhoan Duran pitched a scoreless ninth, but not before Cabrera (single) and Jeimer Candelario (hit-by-pitch) reached safely with one out. Castro grounded into an inning-ending double play.
SUBHEAD
Right-hander Beau Brieske, in his sixth start, lasted four innings.
The Tigers didn't send him back out for the fifth because he had already thrown 90 pitches (55 strikes). He allowed two runs on six hits and one walk with three strikeouts.
In the third inning, Carlos Correa pushed the Twins' advantage to 2-0 with an RBI double down the third-base line and into the left-field corner. He scored Luis Arraez from first base.
Brieske threw 15 pitches in the first inning, 28 pitches in the second, 27 pitches in the third and 20 pitches in the fourth. His longest battle was an 11-pitch at-bat against Byron Buxton in the third, which resulted in a flyout to center field.
To end the fourth, Ryan Jeffers lined out to center fielder Derek Hill.
After the catch, Urshela tagged up at third base and tried to score. Hill launched a line-drive to Barnhart's glove, and the two-time Gold Glove-winning catcher applied an aggressive tag for the inning-ending double play.
For his 90 pitches, Brieske used 49 four-seam fastballs (54%), 19 changeups (21%), 13 curveballs (14%), nine sliders (10%). He recorded five swings and misses: three fastballs and two changeups.
He also had 13 called strikes.
SUBHEAD
The Tigers' bullpen, although active early, kept the team within striking distance, as scoreless innings were thrown by four right-handed relievers: Jason Foley in the fifth, Jacob Barnes in the sixth, Michael Fulmer in the seventh and Drew Carlton in the eighth.
Foley loaded the bases on one hit and two walks, but he worked out of the one-out jam by retiring Kepler and Gilberto Celestino.
Two innings later, Fulmer took the mound for the first time since last Wednesday.
He struck out the heart of Minnesota's lineup — Arraez, Correa and Gary Sanchez — in order, throwing 19 pitches (11 strikes) and using six curveballs, six sinkers, six sliders and one four-seam fastball.
Carlton pitched a perfect eighth in his first appearance this season.
Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him on Twitter @EvanPetzold. Read more on the Detroit Tigers and sign up for our Tigers newsletter.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Tigers' offense remains silent in 2-0 loss to Twins
