Ron Gardenhire didn’t mind getting a beer shower from his players Wednesday night.
He just didn’t know why it was happening.
”They ambushed me www.panthersauthorizedshops.com/authentic-marquis-haynes-jersey , and they really got me,” he said after his Detroit Tigers beat the Minnesota Twins 5-2. ”I wasn’t expecting it, and now I’m dripping all over the place.”
While Gardenhire didn’t realize he had just won his 1,100th game as a manager, someone – he suspects bench coach Steve Liddle – tipped off James McCann. McCann rounded up his teammates and raided the cooler.
”We soaked him,” Tigers third baseman Nicholas Castellanos said. ”He didn’t know what hit him.”
The milestone had a little extra meaning for Gardenhire because it came against the Twins, the team he managed from 2002-14.
”I have this big D on my chest now, and it was the Tigers who won this one, but an awful lot of them came with the team on the other side of the diamond tonight,” he said.
For most of the night, it appeared the Tigers weren’t going to get the win. Playing for the first time since Miguel Cabrera’s season-ending biceps injury, they stranded eight batters in the first seven innings and trailed 2-1.
The Twins then failed to add an insurance run in the eighth, stranding Eduardo Escobar after a one-out triple, and it came back to haunt them.
With one out in the bottom of the inning www.49ersauthorizedshops.com/authentic-korey-toomer-jersey , John Hicks, Niko Goodrum and Grayson Greiner hit consecutive singles off Addison Reed (1-5) to tie the game. Jose Iglesias popped out, but Victor Reyes grounded an RBI single to left.
”I had everyone where I wanted them – 0-1 or 0-2 – but I wasn’t finishing the job,” Reed said. ”Jose (Berrios) threw a hell of a game, and I let him down. That’s the worst part of this.”
Reyes, a Rule 5 pick, started the night hitting .196 with four RBIs in 30 games. Used mainly as a pinch runner, he has only accumulated 50 plate appearances.
”We were going to be thrilled no matter who got the hit, but everyone feels great for Victor,” Hicks said. ”He’s in a really tough situation because he doesn’t get many at-bats, but he never complains and works harder than anyone. There are nights where he’s getting swings in during the game.”
Leonys Martin followed with an RBI single and Reyes scored on right fielder Robbie Grossman’s throwing error to make it 5-2.
”I didn’t contribute anything and Miggy can’t help us right now, but we still won the game,” Castellanos said. ”That’s how you can tell this team is good. Every guy in this room is picking up the slack.”
Joe Jimenez (3-0) got the win with a scoreless eighth. Shane Greene, Detroit’s fifth pitcher Authentic Kody Clark Jersey , threw a perfect ninth for his 16th save.
Berrios allowed one run on seven hits and a walk in six innings. Detroit’s Matthew Boyd gave up two runs on three hits and two walks in five innings.
The Twins scored twice before Detroit recorded an out in the first inning. Boyd hit Brian Dozier, Eddie Rosario doubled and Escobar hit a two-run single.
The Twins, though, only got two more hits in the game.
”When it’s 2-0 that fast, I can’t afford to get mad at myself,” Boyd said. ”I’ve just got to get the next guy out and start posting zeroes.”
Goodrum made it 2-1 with a second-inning homer off Berrios, his friend from their minor league days in the Twins system.
”It’s just part of the game,” Berrios said. ”We’re still friends, but now we’re competing. He got me that time.”
Like Boyd, though, Berrios settled in to keep Detroit off the board for the rest of his outing. The Tigers had runners on second and third with one out in the third before he struck out Castellanos and Jeimer Candelario.
Dozier appeared to make a spectacular play with one out in the fifth, using his glove to scoop Reyes’ drag bunt to Logan Morrison at first. The Tigers, though, challenged the call and it was overturned after a lengthy review. Martin followed with an infield single Ronald Acuna Jr. Atlanta Braves Jersey , and after Castellanos struck out, Berrios hit Candelario to load the bases.
Victor Martinez fell behind 0-2 and grounded out to end the inning with the Twins still up 2-1.
The Tigers missed another opportunity in the sixth. Hicks started the inning with a single and took third on Goodrum’s ground-rule double, but Berrios struck out Greiner and Iglesias before retiring Reyes.
”In a situation like that, you just hope that someone is eventually going to get the big hit,” Gardenhire said. ”It took a while, but they finally came through.”
TRAINER’S ROOM
Twins: OF Byron Buxton (toe) took batting practice on Wednesday, while Joe Mauer (neck and head) played for Triple-A Rochester on his rehab assignment.
Tigers: With McCann still sidelined by the flu and Hicks moving to first base in the wake of Cabrera’s injury, Greiner was the starting catcher. McCann was feeling well enough to warm up pitchers between innings and could be back on Thursday.
UP NEXT
The teams finish their three-game series on Thursday afternoon, with Minnesota’s Lance Lynn (4-4, 5.08) facing Detroit’s Michael Fulmer (2-5, 4.40).
ANAHEIM, Calif. — As the playoffs close in, teams like the Dallas Stars play out the string. Others, like the Anaheim Ducks Cheap Sam Darnold Jersey , tune up for the postseason. These two squads meet in Anaheim on Friday night with the Ducks still vying for second in the Pacific Division.
Anaheim (42-25-13) defeated the Minnesota Wild at home on Wednesday night. The win clinched the Ducks’ sixth consecutive playoff appearance. Ryan Miller made 26 saves in the win. Ondrej Kase scored the winning goal to up his season total to 20. The Ducks are on a three-game win streak and are 8-1-1 in their last 10 contests. The Wild were playing with a depleted defensive corps due to injuries suffered by Ryan Suter and Jared Spurgeon.
Dallas (41-31-8) defeated the Sharks 4-2 in San Jose Tuesday night, coming back from a 2-0 deficit. They have gone 3-5-2 in their last 10 games but have won their last two contests. Mike McKenna got the victory on the strength of 17 saves after he replaced starter Kari Lehtonen in the Dallas goal. Lehtonen stopped 12 shots and allowed both San Jose goals. He exited after being stunned by a hard shot late in period one.
The Stars were knocked from playoff contention on Sunday. They looked disinterested in the first part of the San Jose game but tied things as the last five minutes approached. Jamie Benn scored both the go-ahead goal and the empty-net insurance marker in the last 3:06.
Benn said, “It was a tough first period and even the second, but we found a way to regroup and came out with a great effort in the third.”
McKenna is the prototype of the NHL journeyman. His last appearance was with Colorado in 2015. He last won a game in December of 2013. Upon taking the net, he immediately turned away a four-shot onslaught by the Sharks. Dallas locked the game down late, allowing only one shot on goal in the third period. This was McKenna’s sixth NHL victory.
Lehtonen is on injured reserve with day-to-day status. The Stars lost primary goaltender Ben Bishop to an injury in mid-March. He started 51 games and played in 53 this season. Coach Hitchcock said Lehtonen will likely be available for Friday, but the team announced Thursday that McKenna will play against the Ducks.
“Sometimes guys just earn it in this league — and I think, quite frankly, he’s earned it,” Hitchcock said as reported on the team’s website.
Anaheim is missing two crucial members. Cam Fowler suffered an upper-body injury versus Colorado on Sunday and is expected to miss two to six weeks. John Gibson was knocked over in his net in the first period versus Colorado. Both are on the injured reserve list.
Defenseman Francois Beauchemin said, “Now that we’ve clinched, it gives Gibby more freedom to really heal 100 percent before coming back.”
The Ducks can claim second place from San Jose depending on what the Sharks do in their last two games. For the past five years, the Ducks have won the Pacific. This year, injuries made that impossible.
Ryan Getzlaf said Baker Mayfield Color Rush Jersey , “This whole year has been a bit of a struggle. With the start we had, and the players we had out of the lineup, it was tough to see the big picture at that point. Our guys did a good job battling throughout the whole year. We accomplished one goal we wanted.”
Coach Randy Carlyle commented, “We felt if we played the right way and gave ourselves a chance, this group was capable of putting together a longer string of wins and (qualifying) for the playoffs. Now the goal changes. Yes, we have accomplished the goal we set out, but now we’re in a position with four points available to solidify or even improve our position if we continue to have success. We want to play the right way going into the playoffs.”
The Stars finish their season on the road Saturday, playing Los Angeles. The Ducks finish their regular-season campaign with a game in Arizona that same night.
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