Detroit @ Minnesota preview
Target Field
Last Meeting ( May 5, 2010 ) Detroit 4, Minnesota 5
The Minnesota Twins have spent 81 days in first place this year. They moved in for good on April 12 and haven’t left since.
That could all change this week.
The slumping Twins host the Detroit Tigers, who enter the three-game series just a half-game out of first place. The surging Chicago White Sox, who had an 11-game winning streak end on Sunday, have closed to 1 1/2 games back.
The Twins stumbled to an 8-10 record through interleague play, a start contrast to going 54-19 the previous four years.
Minnesota's troubles against the National League allowed Detroit to chop four games off the lead. The Twins have lost five of their last six and were shut out by the New York Mets, 6-0, on Sunday.
For their part, the Tigers posted an 11-7 mark against the National League.
Minnesota will turn to Francisco Liriano to hold onto first place. Liriano has pitched well in his last six starts, but hasn’t won since June 11. He is just 2-2 in his last six starts despite a sparkling 2.93 ERA.
The Tigers will counter with Jeremy Bonderman (3-5, 4.20 ERA), whose last appearance against the Twins ended with an ejection. Coming out of the bullpen last year, the right-hander hit Delmon Young in the knee on his first pitch in the ninth and was promptly ejected from the contest.
The 26th overall pick of the 2001 draft, Bonderman has battled inconsistency in winning once a month since the start of the season. He allowed four runs in six innings in his last start - a loss to the Mets - and has one victory in his last six appearances.
Detroit’s offense is heating up just in time for an important series. The Tigers pounded out 17 hits in a 10-4 win over the Atlanta Braves on Sunday, scoring as many runs as they had in their last three games combined.
Rookie Brennan Boesch homered on Sunday and is batting .365 over his last 22 games with eight home runs and 21 RBIs.
In an effort to boost a struggling team, Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said he may stick with Michael Cuddyer at third base even though interleague play is through.
Cuddyer hadn’t played there in five years, but Gardenhire experimented to keep both Jason Kubel and Delmon Young in the lineup. Cuddyer performed so well that he could wind up at third for the opener of the series on Monday - and perhaps beyond.