MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. — The body blows kept coming and the Tigers kept standing. Finally, in the 12th inning, Spencer Torkelson delivered a haymaker.
His 21st home run, a two-run shot into the second deck in left field triggered a five-run outburst, sending the Tigers to a much-needed, series-salvaging, 11-6 win over the Minnesota Twins at Target Field Wednesday, Sept. 2.
It was Torkelson's first homer since July 29, when he hit an 11th inning walk-off at Comerica Park against the Orioles.
LATE NIGHT TORK 💣 pic.twitter.com/NOwt8D6Zdo
— Detroit Tigers (@tigers) September 3, 2026
Twins right-hander Tommy Nance unraveled from there. The Tigers loaded the bases with two outs on a single, an intentional walk and a hit-batter (John Peck, who took one off the helmet). Javier Baez emptied the bases with a three-run bloop double.
But this was a mettle-tester.
The Tigers took a 5-2 lead into the eighth inning, six outs away from ending a three-game losing streak and saving face after a pair of brutal blowout losses.
They didn’t get to the ninth with a lead.
The Twins took advantage of a walk and a hit batter to score three runs and tie the game.
But the battered Tigers stayed on their feet long enough to get to the 11th inning. Max Clark, who had doubled twice earlier in the game, blooped a double down the left field line to score the free runner Ben Malgeri and break the 5-5 tie.
But, with no outs, the Tigers couldn't advance Clark, which left a skinny margin for Kyle Finnegan, who threw 25 pitches Tuesday night.
BOX SCORE: Tigers 11, Twins 6 (12)
Too skinny. Luke Keaschall plated the free runner with a line drive single to right to tie the game again. But Finnegan managed, against long odds, to get the game to the 12th.
After Brooks Lee singled, moving Keaschall to third, the Tigers brought Javier Báez in from left field and went with a five-infielder alignment against former Tiger Kody Clemens. Finnegan struck out Clemens and got Ryan Jeffers to ground out, ending the inning.
Finnegan was a soldier, though. He pitched a clean 12th to lock it down.
The Tigers were running out of pitchers. They used Kenley Jansen and Tyler Holton to get through the eighth and ninth. Jacob Waguespack, who threw 21 pitches on Tuesday night, got the final out in the ninth and stranded the free runner at second base striking out Royce Lewis and getting Kaelen Culpepper to fly out to the wall in right.
In the pivotal eighth, lefty Drew Sommers loaded the bases — singles by Brooks Lee and Josh Bell with a HBP to Clemens — and got just one out. Jansen entered and walked pinch-hitter Victor Caratini to force in one run.
Lewis followed, hitting a ball 97.9 mph that shortstop John Peck couldn’t field. Two runs scored and the Tigers lead was gone.
It was the team’s MLB-leading 29th blown save.
The topic before the game was the impact all these recent losses might have on the Tigers’ crop of eight rookies, most of whom have made their debut during this ugly stretch.
“I think the young guys are holding up fine,” manager AJ Hinch said.
Catcher Dillon Dingler, who had a rare night off, agreed.
“A lot of these guys are really mature,” he said. “They go about their business the right way. There’s no real governing we need to do.”
The kids were certainly all right Wednesday night, putting the Tigers in position for a much-needed win.
Peck (24), in his second start, got the Tigers started with his first big-league hit, a scorched two-run double to left-center in the second inning. The ball left his bat with an exit velocity of 109.9 mph and flew 400 feet to the fence.
Peck had another RBI single in the sixth.
Clark (21) doubled three times and scored twice.
Catcher Eduardo Valencia (26) singled, doubled and scored a run. The single was a ball hit at 106 mph and bounced off the wall too hard for him to get to second. His double, 103.8 mph, missed being a homer by a couple of feet.
Second baseman Hao-Yu Lee (23) singled home third baseman Kevin McGonigle (22).
Malgeri (26) singled twice and scored twice.
All rookies. All debuted this season.
And Riley Greene, not a rookie but a three-time All-Star at age 25, ripped an RBI double.
Refreshing on a night when Hinch sat veteran Dingler, Gleyber Torres and Báez at the start after getting blown out in the first two games of this series (by a combined score of 26-3).
“We’re looking for better performance,” Hinch said before the game. “We’ve got to play better if we want to win, and we do want to win. These guys are working hard, but it doesn’t feel good to get blown out like that.”
After watching the Twins do significant damage to young starters Jackson Jobe and Troy Melton in the first two games, Hinch gave the ball to veteran Drew Anderson to flip the script.
In his sixth start after transitioning from the bullpen, Anderson was able to keep the Twins’ hitters off-balance with a heady mix of kick-changeups and curveballs off well-located, 94-95 mph four-seam fastballs.
He had to work around a couple of walks and he twice hit leadoff hitter Keaschall. But through five innings, he’d allowed just one run, an RBI double by Ryan Jeffers, who feasted off Tigers’ pitching in this series (5 for 12, three homers, seven RBI).
His changeup was especially effective, getting eight whiffs on 22 swings with six called strikes.
He was about to get through a clean sixth inning when, with two outs, McGonigle made an errant throw to first on a routine ground ball. Bell followed with a single and Trevor Larnach an RBI double to chase Anderson.
Veteran right-hander Tyler Kinley, featuring a nasty slider, stranded two runners in the sixth and pitched a clean seventh.
This story will be updated.
@cmccosky
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Tigers salvage win in 12 innings to avoid Twins sweep
