Santiago’s pitching, Dozier’s hit lifts Twins over Tigers

Detroit came into the series with a 10-2 record against the Twins.

Second-place Detroit is still on the fringes of the rush for the second wild-card spot in the American League and enters a weekend series against first-place Cleveland nearly needing a three-game sweep to retain serious hopes of overtaking the Indians in the AL Central.

Eddie Rosario – Turning in a three-hit day, Rosario (3 for 4, RBI) drove in the game-winning run in the second inning and scored twice for Minnesota.

Polanco, a.400 hitter in limited at-bats against southpaws but a.264 batter against right-handers at game time, lined out to center when Ausmus brought left-hander Blaine Hardy after Dozier knocked out Pelfrey (4-10) with his two-run single.

(AP Photo/Orlin Wagner). Kansas City Royals starting pitcher Edinson Volquez wipes away sweat after giving up two runs to the Oakland Athletics during the third inning of a baseball game at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City, Mo., Thursday, Sept. 15, 2016.

Down 2-0 in the second inning Thursday with two men on base, two outs and first base open, Ausmus elected to pitch to the Twins’ hottest hitter over the second half of the season.

Bruce Rondon pitched the eighth for Detroit, while Francisco Rodriguez put up a ideal ninth for his 42nd save.

James McCann finally broke the shutout with a two-out RBI double in the sixth, but J.T. Chargois replaced Santiago to get out of the inning.

Minnesota Twins’ Eduardo Escobar hits a one-run single against the Detroit Tigers in the second inning of a baseball game in Detroit, Thursday, Sept. 15, 2016. He’s 2-0 in the last four with a 1.82 ERA. He walked Tyler Collins, but Andrew Romine flew out to the track in right, stranding two more runners.

Lefty Kyle Ryan allowed one hit over two scoreless innings and struck out three for the Tigers. “Wimmer’s getting six outs there was huge for us”. “He’s had some tough luck in limited innings, but he’s a reliever with four pitches and he’s starting to trust his stuff”.

Byron Buxton’s RBI single made it 5-1 in the ninth, and Brandon Kintzler finished Detroit off in the bottom of the inning. C Kurt Suzuki is not likely to play for the Twins until this weekend after suffering a five-stitch cut on his chin Wednesday night. On Thursday, it was swimmer Connor Jaeger, who won silver in the 1,500-meter freestyle. The Twins have been outscored by 22 runs in the matchup, which will wrap up with three more games early next week at Target Field.

Tigers: Head to Cleveland for a three-game series and their last chance to get back into the AL Central race. Michael Fulmer gets the start for Detroit tonight against Cleveland’s Corey Kluber.