Tigers 9, Twins 6: Ian Kinsler’s 4-hit night sparks offense to series lead

DETROIT — Anibal Sanchez’s hopeful start collapsed in fabulous fashion, but the offense and bullpen wouldn’t give in. Led by Ian Kinsler’s four-hit night, the offense blasted Twins pitching with 13 hits and stole a 9-6 win to take the lead in the series.

Sanchez’s night started with a bang and ended with a thud. He dusted the Twins by striking out the side in the first and didn’t allow a hit for the first three innings. And then the fourth began, and from the first pitch he was in trouble.

Brian Dozier homered for the 41st time this year, and Twins put up a five-spot in the inning. After a leadoff walk and an RBI double by Dozier started the fifth, his night ended. But the bullpen wouldn’t have the same bad luck, as they put up five spotless innings while the offense went to work.

After getting two runs in the first two innings, the Tigers bounced back from the 5-2 deficit and slapped four runs on the board. They added three more in the seventh and eighth innings, including a solo home run by Miguel Cabrera. But the majority of the production went to Kinsler, who drove in three and scored two on a four-hit night.

ROARS:

Tigers offense: They put two runs up early and the nailed the Twins with a four-spot in the fourth to retake the lead.

Ian Kinsler and Cameron Maybin: The duo had quite the night, starting with back-to-back doubles in the first, which they followed up (after a Kinsler single) with back-to-back triples in the fourth.

Miguel Cabrera: Hit a home run that bounced off the top of the wall in left-center.

Tigers bullpen: Gave the Tigers five scoreless innings of work, including a no-out, one on situation that Alex Wilson easily cleaned up without allowing a run to score in the fifth.

HISSES:

Anibal Sanchez: Was on fire for the first three innings and then imploded in the fourth and fifth.

STATS AND INFO:

• Ian Kinsler finished a home run shy of the cycle.
• J.D. Martinez finished 0-for-4 with a strikeout. He hasn’t had a hit in his last four games (16 at-bats).
• Miguel Cabrera’s home run in the seventh was his 33rd of the year, and No. 441 in his career. He's one home run shy of tying Dave Kingman for 41st in MLB history.
• Bruce Rondon's clean inning of work extended his scoreless inning streak to 10 innings for the longest of his career. His previous career high was set Aug. 4-20, 2013, during which time he walked only two and struck out 10 batters.

WIN PROBABILITY GRAPH: