Just as the Twins hoped, Saturday's games with the normally punchless Tigers came down to Home Run Derby. But it wasn't exactly the knockout they expected.
Minnesota drilled four errant pitches into the seats during their doubleheader, but the Tigers did, too, and the result was a split of the two games that felt mildly disappointing to the home team.
Detroit, by far the most homer-challenged offense in the AL, cracked four solo shots in the day's first game to earn a 5-3 victory and end the Twins' four-game winning streak. Minnesota responded by ambushing a couple of Detroit rookies with a 15-hit barrage in the evening to score an 8-3 win.
C.J. Cron homered in both games, while Jason Castro (first game) and Marwin Gonzalez (second) both chipped in solo homers.
"Look at the swings that have resulted in home runs — they're not big, out-of-control swings, guys going up there just trying to put the ball over the wall," Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said. "They are the result of good at-bats. They're just good, nice, easy swings that good hitters are putting on the ball."
Both Twins starting pitchers allowed three runs on six hits over six innings, but while Michael Pineda was victimized by a trio of long balls and a dearth of run support, Kohl Stewart was supplied with the Twins' increasingly typical run-an-inning offense. The Twins couldn't win for Pineda despite his second quality start of the season, but Stewart, called up just for the makeup of an April 12 game lost to a snowstorm, earned his third big-league victory.
Pineda has allowed 10 home runs, the third-most in the AL, after giving up two upper-deck blasts by shortstop Ronny Rodriguez and a foul-pole-scraper by DH Brandon Dixon.
"Those aren't the home runs that are usually going to beat you," Baldelli said of all the bases-empty shots. Pineda "made pitches when he had to, and yeah, he gave up a few home runs, but as a whole, he made way more quality pitches than not."