DETROIT, MICHIGAN - SEPTEMBER 07: Gleyber Torres #25 of the Detroit Tigers turns a double play around Josh Bell #56 of the Minnesota Twins in the seventh inning at Comerica Park on September 07, 2026 in Detroit, Michigan. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images) | Getty Images

It was a labor of a game on Labor Day. The Twins were resilient and had plenty of chances to score, but more bad luck with RISP, four double plays, and poor defensive execution led to another Twins loss. The same script as most of the second half.

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The Twins once again struck first in the game. Luke Keaschall was hit by a pitch and Brooks Lee stroked a strong single to center. Keaschall and Lee then double stole to put two in scoring position for the heart of the lineup. Kody Clemens struck out and Ryan Jeffers hit into a fielders choice, scoring one and keeping runners at the corners with only one out, but Josh Bell hit into a double play to end the inning.

Joe Ryan made his grand return and was reasonably effective. After only one short rehab appearance, the Twins limited his workload to 65 pitches with rookie left-hander Connor Prielipp scheduled to follow. Ryan had a long first two innings, throwing 43 pitches and allowing three runs, but it genuinely could have been much worse.

Ryan K’d Colt Keith on three pitches to start the inning, but left a heater down the heart of the plate to AL ROY favorite Kevin McGonigle, giving Detroit their first run. In the second, he gave up a leadoff triple and struck out Spencer Torkelson, and then had perhaps the worst 4 pitch sequence of his life. Ryan walked rookie Max Clark after a long battle, then hit light-hitting rookie John Peck on the very next pitch to load the bases. On the next pitch he hit Keith to plate the go-ahead run, and then McGonigle reached on a soft grounder to first, but Royce Lewis’ throw home took Jeffers off the plate and allowed the Tigers to score another. Ryan buckled in and got the next two Tigers to end the threat, but the damage was done.

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Ryan locked in from there, retiring the next six straight Tigers batters, including three strikeouts, to end his day at four innings and 66 pitches. It was a decent return for the Twins’ ace. His velocity looked strong and other than the McGongile homer (the only hard hit ball he allowed), he pitched reasonably well for someone effectively making his second rehab appearance. Some better defense behind him and he likely puts the Twins in a great position to win.

Connor Prielipp took over from there and was also pretty strong the rest of the way. He gave up a two-run shot to All-Star Riley Greene, but gave the Twins four strong and efficient innings and continues to show good stuff despite being 40 innings over his 2025 career high and flying past the combined 58 innings he threw from 2020-2024. The numbers won’t dazzle you, but he’s done more than enough to warrant a 2027 rotation look and stave off the bullpen concerns some evaluators thought he was destined for.

Back on the offensive side, the Twins did an excellent job getting back in the game after falling behind. Trevor Larnach, who has been hearing the call of the void, shrunk the gap to 1 with a laser wall-scraper in the fourth. Then, they finally managed to string some hits together with two outs in the sixth, trailing 5-2 at this point. Larnach got things started again with a single and Kaelen Culpepper scorched a single to left on the next pitch. Walker Jenkins then had his best at-bat as a Twin so far, working a full count before scorching a double into the right-center gap to plate two. If it wasn’t for Tigers centerfielder Max Clark’s speed, Jenkins might have had an inside-the-park home run in cavernous C0merica Park, but Clark made a nifty play, sliding to cut off the ball in the gap before it could get past him.

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Twins legend Tyler Kinley came in to try to finish the game, but walked Keaschall and Lee to juice the bases for Clemens, who watched a fastball down the middle of the plate to end the threat with the Twins trailing 5-4. They had chances in every inning that followed, but hit into double plays in each of the final three frames to stop any momentum they had built.

Minnesota had one final chance to pull out a win in the ninth, but once again couldn’t come up with the final hit they needed. A leadoff walk to Clemens put the tying run on. Jeffers then hit a fly ball about 400 feet out to dead center that stayed in the park and Josh Bell bounced into a double play to end the game.

They “only” left 10 men on base this game, which doesn’t seem that bad, but that’s because double plays don’t count for that number. They had at least one runner reach base in every inning and two runners in five of them, yet only managed three total runs in those innings with multiple baserunners. Little things like that are what has the Twins well outside the playoff field with three weeks to go.

STUDS

• Bottom of the lineup (Larnach/Kreidler, Culpepper, Jenkins): 5-10, HR, 2B, BB, 3 RBI
• Luke Keaschall: 1-2, 2 BB, stole third base

DUDS

• Rest of the lineup: 2-20, 3 BB, 3 GIDP, 0-6 with RISP

We’re back tomorrow for the stellar pitching matchup of Dean Kremer vs Drew Anderson, which we’ve all been waiting for. Here’s hoping Emmanuel Rodriguez and Alan Roden are with the team, too!

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