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Twins cruise past Tigers

Sep 27, 2014 - 4:37 AM Detroit, MI (SportsNetwork.com) - Brian Dozier went 3-for-5 with a homer, three RBI and three runs scored to help the Minnesota Twins defeat the Detroit Tigers, 11-4, in the second of four at Comerica Park.

Danny Santana also collected three hits and scored twice, Oswaldo Arcia homered and Kurt Suzuki drove in two runs for the Twins.

A.J. Achter (1-0) earned the win for two innings in relief of starter Anthony Swarzak, who yielded three runs on seven hits over 4 1/3 innings.

Rick Porcello (15-13) was charged with six runs -- four earned -- on six hits and three walks with six strikeouts over 3 2/3 innings. Porcello is winless in his last six outings, going 0-5 over that span, and has not won since Aug. 26.

The Tigers could have clinched its fourth consecutive AL Central title with a win and Kansas City loss in Chicago. Because of the Royals' 3-1 win over the White Sox, Detroit now leads KC by one game in the division standings.

"Tonight was not a good night for us," Tigers manager Brad Ausmus said. "We gotta find a way to win. Right now, we're in the lead. It's in our hands. We have to do it."

Miguel Cabrera homered and had two RBI for the Tigers, who had a three-game winning streak snapped.

Porcello had some early trouble and put his team in a hole before they even picked up the bat. Santana drilled a ground-rule double to left center on the first pitch of the game. Dozier then brought him home on the second pitch of Porcello's night. The right-hander managed to strike out Joe Mauer and Kennys Vargas, but Arcia delivered his 20th homer of the season to stake the visitors a 3-0 lead.

"It was just one of those nights where the ball started falling," Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said. "We haven't had a lot of success against Porcello. Tonight, we made him work a little bit."

Dozier poked his 22nd homer of the season, a solo shot to left, with one out in the third to increase the margin.

Porcello continued to struggle in the fourth and his night was cut short thanks to an error by Nick Castellanos. Chris Herrmann doubled to begin the frame, Aaron Hicks walked and both advanced on a sacrifice bunt by Eduardo Escobar. After a strikeout of Santana, Dozier sent a grounder to third, where Castellanos skipped a throw over to first that allowed both runners to score. Porcello intentionally walked Mauer, then Kyle Ryan came on in relief and got Vargas to ground out to end the frame.

While Detroit's starter was disappointing, Swarzak had it going early on, holding the Tigers hitless until Cabrera's double with one out in the fourth. Victor Martinez proceeded to drive a single out to right to score Cabrera. J.D. Martinez made it three straight hits with a single, but Swarzak settled down to get the next two batters.

The Tigers continued to chip away at the deficit in the fifth. Andrew Romine singled to lead things off, moved to second on a groundout and scored on Ian Kinsler's hit to left. Torii Hunter singled before Cabrera's RBI base knock sent Kinsler home and cut the deficit to 6-3. Achter relieved Swarzak and got consecutive flyouts from Victor Martinez and J.D. Martinez to end the inning.

Minnesota, however, opened the game back up in the sixth with a four-run inning. Escobar doubled home Hicks, Dozier added a run-scoring hit and Kurt Suzuki contributed a two-run single with two outs to make it a 10-3 game.

Cabrera hit his 25th homer of the season, a solo blast to left center, with one out in the seventh.

Arcia capped the scoring with an RBI single that scored Doug Bernier in the eighth.

Game Notes

Anibal Sanchez made an appearance out of the bullpen for Detroit, his first since July 2006. Sanchez had not pitched since Aug. 8 because of a pectoral injury ... Detroit looked to clinch a division title at home for the first time since winnings the AL East in 1987 ... Minnesota outhit Detroit, 15-10 ... The Twins went 6-for-14 with runners in scoring position.