Tigers' "Big Three" Struggle (NXPL Update / 82' Tigers)

The Detroit Tigers' "Big Three" -- Manny Soto, Joaquin Andujar & Dan Petry entered their series against the 22-23 Minnesota Twins, undefeated; Detroit (34-11) meanwhile owns a four game-lead over the Baltimore Orioles in the American League Pennant race.

The series breakdown...

The Twins come to Tiger Stadium, with a 3-2 season series edge over Detroit.

Game 1

Manny Soto enters 6-0 with 1.99 ERA, but just didn't have his stuff today. Soto would get whooped with 4 HR's allowed (including two-run HR by Gary Ward) -- allowing 7 ER in 5.1 innings. Lance Parrish homers for Detroit; Twins win 8-5.

Soto's first loss of season.

Game 2

Lance Parrish clobbers 2nd HR of series, but the Twins get off to early lead again, and Gene Garber records a three-inning save for his 11th; 4-3 Twins.

Joaquin Andujar (part of the "Big Three") loses his first game of the season...

Game 3

Twins jump on Tigers with Grand Slam by Kent Hrbek; Hrbek ends the game 4-for-4 with 6 RBI and a walk. Lance Parrish hits 2 HR's (3rd consecutive game with HR)...

Dan Petry loses his first game of the season...

Meaning the Twins did something the rest of the American League has not been able to do, hand the "Big Three" their first loss of the season (Congrats, Twinkies).

Game 4

RBI double by Lance Parrish early on, gives Tigers 2-0 lead, Bill Madlock adds clutch PH two-run in 6th that got Tigers rolling, as they win finally with 7-1 victory.

Game 5

Two-run triple by Lance Parrish gets things started for Tigers, but Sixto Lezcano cuts 4-0 lead in half in 4th inning with his 10th HR of the season. Bill Madlock was everywhere this game, his 3rd hit was a RBI single to give extra insurance with 5-2 lead... while his 4th hit of the game would be a solo HR in the 6th.

Twins start to battle back with runs in the 7th and 8th inning, cutting lead to 8-4; Bases loaded for Gary Ward (who had some big hits against us this series), but Randy Moffit does not allow him to clear the bases.

Tigers win 8-4.

Minnesota Twins wins series, 3-2 (and own season series, 6-4)... winning 6 of their first 8 meetings against Detroit; Lance Parrish is a beast and without looking around the league, I can confidently say if we voted for MVP, he would be the early choice (.325, 13 HR & 41 RBI) through 50 games.

Detroit is now 36-14, while Minnesota climbs a game to an even 25-25; Good series by the Twins, it could have been a bigger series for them, but at least they didn't go backwards.