Trailing by four runs almost before they knew it, the Twins scored five runs on a pair of home runs in the sixth and seven innings.
Then they scored four more times in the eighth inning – all with only one out and just for good measure, too — before beating Detroit 9-4 at Target Field.
An announced crowd of 21,030 fans on a fine summer’s afternoon that turned sun-splashed and victorious saw left-fielder Alex Kirilloff‘s two-run home run start it all in the sixth.
Second baseman Jorge Polanco‘s three-run shot in the seventh was enough to beat the Tigers for the third consecutive time in a four-game weekend series.
Third baseman Luis Arraez’s two-run double with one out in the eighth didn’t hurt any, either. That made it 7-4 before a Detroit wild pitch and catcher’s error that ended up with the ball in a camera well.
Those two mistakes also allowed two more players, including Arraez, to score.
Shut out through five innings, the Twins needed a jolt and Kirilloff delivered it with a sudden, first-pitch two-run homer – his eighth this season – that scored designated hitter Nelson Cruz ahead of him with one out.
The Twins followed that sixth inning by adding Jorge Polanco’s three-run homer to the right-field pavilion in the seventh inning.
That came with one out, after shortstop Andrelton Simmons and third baseman Luis Arraez each singled back-to-back and then Polanco delivered a shot on a 1-0 count almost as sudden and unexpected as Kirilloff’s. It was his 11th.
The Twins survived the eighth inning, when Detroit first baseman Jonathan Schoop doubled to lead off the inning and then was advanced to third with one one. But Twins reliever Alex Colome got Haase looking on strike three and then got Candelario out swining without the tying run crossing the plate.
The Twins beat the Tigers for the third consecutive time in a four-game weekend series that ends Sunday leading in the All-Star break.
The Tigers had won four of five games and six of eight before arriving in Minnesota.
They led 4-0 after those back-to-back second-inning solo home runs and then two more runs that scored their first two batters in the third inning.
It was the third time this season the Tigers hit consecutive homers, and the first since May 14 against the Chicago Cubs.
Left fielder Niko Goodrum hit the first homer with two outs, on a 3-2 count, 390 feet to right-center field.
It was his sixth home run this season.
Shortstop Zack Short stepped up next and hit his solo shot 369 feet on a 2-2 count to left-center field.
It was his third this season.
Detroit scored those two more in the fourth, when Twins star Bailey Ober walked catcher Eric Haase and designated hitter Jeimer Candelario to start the inning. Third baseman Harold Castro’s ground ball to left field scored Haase from second.