Twins homer twice off Rodriguez, beat Tigers 4-1

Ausmus said he pondered giving Cabrera a day of rest and relaxation Wednesday until Cabrera’s final at-bat Tuesday produced a line-drive single that was part of the Tigers’ only sustained offense in a 6-2 loss to the Twins.

When Max Kepler hits a home run, good things usually happen for the downtrodden Minnesota Twins.

Ji-Man Choi added his first major league home run as the Angels earned their eighth win in 10 games and their fourth in succession, matching their season high.

BOSTON – Hanley Ramirez socked three two-run homers as Boston won a shootout with San Francisco at Fenway Park.

The 23-year-old pointed toward the visitor’s dugout as he headed toward first base. What was the message? “Let’s get a dang win”.

“Emotions go the better of me”, he said. “I usually don’t pimp stuff that much, but I was excited”. The Tigers are closer and healthier, but then they Tigers-it-all-up like they just did against the Twins.

Tigers: LHP Daniel Norris (right oblique strain) allowed a run and five hits in four innings in a rehab start for Triple-A Toledo. Counterpart Ervin Santana surrendered a run on six hits in seven-plus innings.

Rodriguez, who leads all active pitchers with 412 saves, had allowed just two homers all season. “He’s been fantastic for us and I expect him to bounce back”. “He had really good fastball command, and that’s big for him”. “He was trying to go away with it before that”. “Luckily, he left it up”.

Minnesota manager Paul Molitor shrugged off any attempt to connect Terry Ryan’s firing with the team’s punchless performance against Detroit.

“I think it’s been emotional”, Molitor said. “That’s going to continue as we continue to find ways to digest what’s transpired”.

Top Tiger: Justin Verlander. That broke a three-way tie with Gavin Floyd and Jeremy Guthrie. That decision paid off as Verlander retired Mauer in a bounce out.

Ian Kinsler’s leadoff homer provided the Tigers’ run.

Mauer later grounded to second on his next three cracks at Verlander.

Minnesota Twins’ Joe Mauer heads home after his solo home run during the first inning of a baseball game against the Detroit Tigers, Wednesday, July 20, 2016 in Detroit.

Santana, meanwhile, matched Verlander zero for zero into the eighth. The Twins’ ace set down 10 straight and 15 of 16 before walking No. 9 hitter Andrew Romine on four pitches to start the sixth.

The Tigers had runners on second and third with two outs in the seventh, but failed to get the go-ahead run. With two on and two outs and Pressly pitching, Victor Martinez drove a deep shot into left-center field that Rosario snared while crashing into the wall. Brandon Kintzler collected his sixth save.

As for the Tigers, they’re 4-0 in their last four game threes of a series, and 18-8 in their last 26 Wednesday games.

The key hit occurred when pinch-hitter Matt Adams, who was batting for pinch-hitter Michael McKenry after San Diego removed starter Christian Friedrich for Carlos Villanueva, lined a 3-2 pitch up the gap in left-center, scoring Jedd Gyorko and Greg Garcia for a 4-1 lead.