From bad to worse: Reeling Tigers blasted again by Twins, 15-2
· Yahoo Sports
MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. — This is how it goes when it’s going bad.
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And make no mistake, the Tigers are in full freefall at the moment.
It was a 1-1 game going into the bottom of the fifth inning. Right hander Troy Melton had dispatched 10 straight hitters. Five batters later, the Tigers were down 4-1 and on their way to yet another blowout loss.
The 15-2 drubbing by the Minnesota Twins on Tuesday, Sept. 1, was the Tigers’ 14th loss in 16 games.
Melton walked Trevor Larnach to begin the fifth and Royce Lewis lined a double over left fielder Riley Greene’s head.
But Melton didn’t buckle. He induced two straight ground balls to rookie shortstop John Peck, who was making his first big-league start. Peck threw out Kaelen Culpepper and held the runner on the first one.
On the next one, hit by Walker Jenkins, Peck threw home and had Larnach trapped.
But catcher Dillon Dingler’s throw back to third base sailed into left field and both runs scored.
It was reminiscent of a play made by catcher Eric Haase a few years ago, when his errant throw into left field led to the game-winning run.
It was a play that broke the Tigers' back on this night.
Jenkins scored on a single by Luke Keaschall and the avalanche was on.
The Twins chased Melton in a nightmarish sixth inning. Royce Lewis hit Melton’s 96th pitch, a hanging, first-pitch slider, 427 feet into the shrubs in center field, a three-run homer.
Before that pitch, Melton had given up a single on a ground ball that eluded second baseman Gleyber Torres and then he hit Larnach with a pitch.
It went from worse to dreadful after that.
The Twins sent 15 batters to the plate in what became a 10-run sixth inning. Reliever Kyle Finnegan was able to record just one out while allowing five runs. The big blow was a three-run homer by Ryan Jeffers. His third in two games.
Beau Brieske, just added to the roster, gave up two runs on three singles and a walk before getting the final out.
The Tigers hadn’t endured a 10-run inning since Aug. 24, 2015 at Cincinnati.
Peck, who made his big-league debut in the eighth inning Monday, went hitless in four at-bats, though he reached on an error in the fifth.
The Tigers (63-75) have lost six straight series.
This story will be updated.
@cmccosky
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: From bad to worse: Reeling Tigers blasted again by Twins, 15-2