Twins thump Tigers 9-3 behind four home runs, strong outing from Pablo López

DETROIT – Pablo López’s pitch count was approaching 90 in the seventh inning on Friday, and he was in trouble.

A bloop double to lead off the inning had escalated into a bases-loaded, no-out emergency, and the Twins’ biggest lead in a couple of weeks was in jeopardy. Time to call for a rescuer out of the bullpen, right?

Not this time. Not with this Pablo.

Manager Rocco Baldelli allowed the Twins righthander to face his own challenge, and he responded by getting a ground ball that Carlos Santana turned into a forceout at the plate and two pop-ups, escaping without a run and preserving a 9-3 victory over the Detroit Tigers at Comerica Park.

“The way he pitched earlier in the game, he earned the opportunity to go out there and pitch through it. I wanted to watch him pitch through it,” Baldelli said. “He was going to have a chance to do it, and he did it.”

He did, but even López was feeling the pressure.

“My heart was racing for a while, even after getting that third out. But you’ve got to face it head-on,” López said. “Santana made a great play, a quick decision to go to the plate. As a pitcher, I really appreciate that. And that just gives you a little more fuel.”

Four Twins hit four home runs — Byron Buxton and Trevor Larnach went back-to-back in the first inning, Matt Wallner connected in the second, and Christian Vázquez hit a two-run shot in the sixth — and knocked out Tigers rookie starter Keider Montero after five innings.

Vázquez, just 2-for-17 since July 8, had three hits in this one and even stole a base.

“I almost stopped in the middle,” he said with a laugh. “But I’m feeling good. I feel confident and I’m seeing the ball well.”

BOXSCORE: Twins 9, Detroit 3

Few players are seeing the ball as well as Buxton, now hitting .358 in July. And he doesn’t need to see many — his blast into the Twins bullpen in left-center field came on the first pitch he saw from Montero.

Buxton was hit by a pitch on his right forearm in Wednesday’s game against Philadelphia, and “I was wondering how his hand was going to be today,” Baldelli said. “Right away, he goes deep, so everyone kind of felt better about that. These are powerful swings. These are swings where he’s on offspeed pitches, he can get on top of fastballs. He’s feeling good about himself right now, and he should.”

The Twins didn’t hit a home run during their three-run fourth inning, but they might have gotten some help from an unusual source: The Tigers’ all-dark City Connect jerseys.

Willi Castro cracked a two-out, two-run single to left field in the fourth inning and advanced to third base when Tigers second baseman Colt Keith received the throw, whirled and saw Castro several feet beyond the bag, with a dark-uniformed participant standing next to the base. Keith threw in hopes of catching Castro in a rundown — except the person he was throwing to was first-base umpire Mike Muchlinski, not dark-blue-clad first baseman Bligh Madris.

The ball sailed untouched into the Twins dugout and Castro was awarded third. Buxton drove him in moments later.