Michael Pineda allowed the first two batters of the seventh inning — yes, the seventh — to reach base, prompting a mound visit by Twins pitching coach Wes Johnson.
"He told me, 'It's OK. Just concentrate right now and try to execute the pitch and get a ground ball for a double play.' "Pineda said. "I said, 'Yes. I love it. I love the plan.' "
Pineda got a flyout for the first out, then got that ground ball — but the Twins couldn't turn an inning-ending double play and a run scored. Pineda took matters into his own hands at that point as rain fell upon Target Field.
The inning ended with him winning a seven-pitch battle with Austin Romine, striking him out with a fastball on his 103rd pitch of the day.
Yes, 103rd.
One day after four Twins relievers allowed a four-run lead disappear vs. the Tigers, the club looked to Big Mike to pick up the staff on Labor Day. And he stepped up in a big spot, as the Twins beat Detroit 6-2 to win four games out of the five-game series.
"It's one thing to do that under any circumstances, but that is as much as Big Mike has been stretched out in a very, very long time in a situation where the conditions were ugly," Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said. "Everything was challenging at that point. There was nothing about that situation that was easy."
And it was a situation that doesn't seem to happen as much in Major League Baseball anymore: A starter in the final innings of a game, being left in to problem-solve.
"I'm feeling very proud of myself because that's what we want," Pineda said, "just trying to work longer in the game and give everything I've got every five to six days, and especially today, because we have a doubleheader tomorrow and it's a tough doubleheader for relievers. We try to keep it up in the game to get some rest for the relievers. That's my focus."
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The Twins took control in the third inning Monday. Ryan Jeffers led off with his first major league home run and Eddie Rosario added a bases-clearing double later in the inning for a 4-0 lead.
Jeffers drove in Jake Cave with a single in the fourth, and Byron Buxton added his sixth home run in the eighth on a day in which Nelson Cruz (hip) and Miguel Sano (hamstring) were held out of the lineup because of minor injury concerns and Jorge Polanco was given a day off.
It was plenty of support for Pineda, who in his second start of 2020 became just the second Twins pitcher this season to work into the seventh inning and third to throw more than 100 pitches in a game.
Over seven innings, Pineda held Detroit to two runs on three hits and two walks with eight strikeouts. The Tigers were hitless until two outs in the fourth, when Jeimer Candelario hit a two-out double to left, just out of the reach of Rosario.
After being suspended for the final 21 games of last season, the playoffs and the first 36 games of this season for failing a drug test, Pineda has a 2.77 ERA in his two outings, and he looks like he wants to make up for lost time. And his return to the Twins rotation could be a significant development over the final 17 games of the regular season.
"I know last year was a little frustrating for me because of the situation that happened," said Pineda, who was 11-5 with a 4.01 ERA in 26 starts in 2019. "I'm putting everything in the past and right now, I say thanks to God and thanks to the Twins for giving me the opportunity to come back. I'm trying to help my team get in the playoffs this year."
