Twins 5, Tigers 1: Missed offensive opportunities sinks Detroit

DETROIT — Mike Pelfrey had a horrific, short-lived start, but the bullpen was not. But a sleepy offense at the plate, the Tigers couldn’t bounce back enough against mediocre starter Hector Santiago and lost 5-1 to the Twins.

For three outs, Pelfrey was great. Fantastic, even. He got three quick outs on 14 pitches, and his sinker for a strikeout had so much late life that Jorge Polanco jumped out of the way — and it still swung back to the inside corner. But that’s where the good times would end.

The first four batters that Pelfrey faced found the grass and two runs scored from it. He got the next two outs on a sacrifice bunt and a flyout to right, but Brian Dozier’s two-run single ended his short day. What Pelfrey couldn’t do, however, the bullpen more than made up for by putting up six scoreless innings and no drama.

Even with that, the game was within reach, but the offense couldn’t push a run across. The Tigers had three straight innings of chances to get on the board, and in every instance they failed. They finally plated one on James McCann’s two-out double, but after a walk to Tyler Collins the inning was over — though not without a bid by Andrew Romine for a three-run shot.

ROARS:

Blaine Hardy: Gave the Tigers 3 ¹⁄₃ innings of clean work.

Kyle Ryan: Two scoreless innings with one hit allowed.

James McCann: Had a 2-for-3 day with a run, one hit of which was a double.

HISSES:

Mike Pelfrey: Lasted all of 1 ²⁄₃ innings. It wasn’t pretty.

Tigers offense: Asleep at the wheel. Stranded eight baserunners and three scoring chances not including the two-on opportunity in the sixth after McCann’s double.

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