Tigers Beat The Twins 2-1
MINNEAPOLIS (97.1 THE TICKET/AP) - Prince Fielder hit a two-run homer in the eighth inning to lead the Detroit Tigers to victory over the Minnesota Twins 2-1 on Sunday.
As heard on sister station Talk Radio 1270 - Anibal Sanchez pitched 6 and 1/3 strong innings for the Tigers, allowing one run and striking out four before leaving the game, Phil Coke (2-3) got the win in relief and Jose Valverde picked up his 34th save.
The Tigers entered the day two games up on Chicago in the division with four to play.
Fielder's opposite-field shot off Jared Burton (3-2) barely got over the wall in left field for his 30th homer of the season.
Miguel Cabrera, who is trying to become the first player since 1967 to win the triple crown, went 0 for 3 with an intentional walk, dropping his AL-leading batting average to .325.
Twins star Joe Mauer went 3 for 4 with an intentional walk to raise his average to .323.
Cabrera and the powerful Tigers offense was held down for most of the game by Liam Hendriks, who gave up five hits and struck out three in seven shutout innings.
When Pedro Florimon gave the Twins a 1-0 lead on a single in the seventh, Twins manager Ron Gardenhire went to the rock steady right-hander Burton for the eighth. But Austin Jackson led off with a single up the middle and Fielder hit the first pitch he saw out of the park.
The big first baseman was mobbed when he got to the Tigers dugout, with Detroit no doubt sensing the possibility of opening up a three-game lead on the White Sox, who were trailing Tampa Bay, with three games to play.
Cabrera entered the day leading the AL in batting average and RBIs - both by comfortable margins - and tied with Texas star Josh Hamilton for the lead in home runs.
But the batting race suddenly is up in the air.
Mauer hit three singles off Sanchez, while Cabrera had some hard luck with a ball hit squarely that Florimon was able to snatch out of the air at shortstop.
But Cabrera did find a way to have an impact on defense, jumping at first base to snag a line drive from Chris Parmelee in the sixth inning that stranded two runners in scoring position. The Twins had runners on first and third with nobody out in the inning, but Sanchez was able to get Justin Morneau to pop out and Ryan Doumit to tap one right back to him before Cabrera helped him wiggle out of the jam.
The Tigers will finish the regular season with three games in Kansas City. The White Sox have one more game against Tampa Bay before heading to Cleveland for three games.
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(TM and © Copyright 2012 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2012 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
