Polanco lifts Tigers over Twins in 16
July 4, 2009
MINNEAPOLIS (AP)—Placido Polanco(notes) might have been the grittiest player on anight where several were in contention after 16 innings.
The Detroit Tigers second basemen fouled a ball off his protective cup inthe 14th inning, only to follow it up on the next pitch with an RBI single. Hehit another run-scoring single in the 16th inning that put his team up for goodin an 11-9 victory over the Minnesota Twins on Friday night.
After fouling a pitch from R.A. Dickey(notes) into the dirt, Polanco went down whenthe ball bounced back and hit him. He needed several minutes to recover and wasvisited by manager Jim Leyland and a team trainer behind the plate.
“It took an inning or two to finally be over it, for me to start feelinglike 100 percent,” Polanco said.
With runners on second and third in the 16th, Polanco lined a single throughthe left side of a drawn-in infield, scoring Ramon Santiago(notes) with the go-aheadrun. Ryan Raburn(notes) and Magglio Ordonez(notes) added insurance runs for the Tigers.
Series at a Glance Detroit 11 Minnesota 9 Fri, Jul 3 – Final 16th Detroit at Minnesota Sat, Jul 4 – 4:10 pm ET Detroit at Minnesota Sun, Jul 5 – 2:10 pm ET
The game lasted 5 hours and 7 minutes.
“We were here for so long that we really wanted to win the game,” Polancosaid. “So, you don’t really think how tired you are.”
Freddy Dolsi(notes) (1-0) blew a save in the 14th and allowed an unearned run inthe bottom of the 16th, but held on for his second career win, endingMinnesota’s attempt at a third comeback.
“It’s a really good win because it could have been a really tough loss,”Leyland said. “The guys hung in there. We kept battling, and so did they.”
Dickey (1-1) took the loss for Minnesota, its first in four home gamesagainst the Tigers, and the Twins dropped four games back of Detroit in the ALCentral. But the game wasn’t Minnesota’s only loss of the night.
Starter Kevin Slowey(notes), who lasted just three innings for a second consecutivestart, was placed on the 15-day DL after the game with a wrist strain. AnthonySwarzak(notes) was recalled to take Slowey’s spot in the rotation, but will first pitchout of the bullpen.
Slowey allowed a season-high six runs in his worst outing since giving upsix runs against the Tigers in Detroit on July 10, 2007. The right-hander hasallowed at least three earned runs in four of his last five starts with a 7.54ERA during that stretch.
But the Twins rebounded from a 7-2 deficit with a five-run sixth inning,highlighted by Denard Span’s(notes) two-run triple. Span finished with a career-highfive hits.
Joe Crede(notes) led off the big sixth frame with a solo home run off Zach Miner(notes),the 25th of his career against Detroit—his most against any team. Following asingle, fielder’s choice and walk, Span and Brendan Harris(notes) hit consecutivetriples to chase Miner. Joe Mauer(notes) added a sacrifice fly against Fu-Te Ni(notes), givingMiner five earned runs allowed on four hits in two-thirds of an inning—hisworst outing since allowing four runs in one-third of an inning on June 3against Boston.
From there, both bullpens stood tall.
Neither team scored a run until Polanco pushed a single up the middle offDickey in the top of the 14th to give the Tigers an 8-7 advantage. But the Twinscame right back with a run in the bottom half of the frame on Cuddyer’s RBIsingle. Minnesota could’ve had runners on the corners with no outs followingCuddyer’s hit, but Justin Morneau(notes) was thrown out at third base trying to advancewhen the ball ricocheted up the left-field line off third basemen Brandon Inge’s(notes)glove. Instead, Minnesota had a runner on second with one out and Dolsi retiredthe next two batters.
“He thought he could get there and just got thrown out,” Twins manager RonGardenhire said. “Turns out, yeah, it’s not a great baserunning play because hegot thrown out.”
Dolsi—the last pitcher left in Detroit’s bullpen—worked a season-highthree innings in his fourth appearance of the year.
“He went out there in a tough situation,” catcher Gerald Laird(notes) said. “Hegave up one and was able to settle down. He pitched through the heart of theirlineup pretty much the whole time he was in.”
Minnesota also emptied its bullpen, with just-recalled Brian Duensing(notes)throwing a team-high 3 2-3 innings. He allowed Laird’s solo home run in thefourth before retiring nine straight.
Luke French(notes) was solid in his major league starting debut for Detroit withtwo runs allowed on six hits in 4 2-3 innings.
Marcus Thames(notes) snapped an 11-game home run drought with a two-run shot offSlowey in the third inning, and Josh Anderson(notes) hit a two-run triple in the secondframe for the Tigers.
NOTES: Minnesota’s Delmon Young(notes) was the designated hitter for the fifth timethis season and finished with three hits, including a home run. Gardenhire saidthat usual DH Jason Kubel(notes) was out of the starting lineup for the second straightgame because of his .185 batting average against left-handers. … French hadbeen solid for Triple-A Toledo before his recall, going 2-1 with a 1.66 ERA inhis previous six starts. French went 4-4 with a 2.98 ERA in 13 starts overallfor the Mud Hens.