Tigers vs. Twins game recap: Minnesota loses 2-1 in series finale

Despite a great performance from starter Liam Hendriks and a good day at the plate from Joe Mauer, the Minnesota Twins lost, 2-1, to the Detroit Tigers on Sunday afternoon. With Detroit looking to put away the Chicago White Sox and win the AL Central, the Twins weren't able to spoil the Tigers' efforts, losing two of three this weekend.

Hendriks did deliver a gem in his final start of the season, though, rebounding nicely from a rough outing against the New York Yankees a few days ago. The 23-year-old pitched seven shutout innings against Detroit on Sunday, allowing just five hits and two walks while striking out three.

Anibal Sanchez was similarly good for Detroit, allowing one run on seven hits over 6⅓ innings. That lone run appeared to be costly at first, but Prince Fielder put the Tigers ahead with a two-run homer in the eighth inning off reliever Jared Burton.

There was some good news in this game, though, coming in the form of Mauer's pursuit of the AL batting title. After going 3-for-4 today while Miguel Cabrera went 0-for-3, Mauer now trails Cabrera by just two points for the batting title, .325 to .323.

Tigers vs. Twins lineups: Liam Hendriks and Minnesota look to play spoiler Sunday

The Minnesota Twins look to play spoiler to the Detroit Tigers on Sunday. The Tigers hope to extend their lead in the AL Central, where they currently hold a two-game lead over the Chicago White Sox with only four games left to play.

Anibal Sanchez (9-13, 3.95) takes the mound for Detroit, looking to carry over the success from his last start -- a three-hit shutout against the Kansas City Royals.

For Minnesota, Liam Hendriks (1-8, 6.09) gets the start. Hendriks got shelled for six runs including four homers against the New York Yankees his last time out.

Detroit Tigers

1. Austin Jackson, CF
2. Quintin Berry, LF
3. Miguel Cabrera, 3B
4. Prince Fielder, 1B
5. Delmon Young, DH
6. Andy Dirks, RF
7. Jhonny Peralta, SS
8. Alex Avila, C
9. Omar Infante, 2B
Pitching: Anibal Sanchez

Minnesota Twins

1. Denard Span, CF
2. Ben Revere, CF
3. Joe Mauer, C
4. Justin Morneau, DH
5. Ryan Doumit, LF
6. Chris Parmelee, 1B
7. Trevor Plouffe, 3B
8. Alexi Casilla, 2B
9. Pedro Florimon, SS
Pitching: Liam Hendriks

Tigers vs Twins preview: Twins look for series win over Tigers

The Minnesota Twins will look to bounce back on Sunday after a 6-4 loss to the Tigers on Saturday and play the role of spoiler as Detroit fights for the American League Central crown in the final weekend of the regular season. The Twins beat the Tigers 4-2 in the series opener on Friday. The Tigers hold a two game lead over the Chicago White Sox headed into Sunday's games.

The Twins will send Liam Hendriks who is 1-8 on the season with a 6.09 ERA to the mound against Anibal Sanchez, 4-3 with a 3.95 ERA, who Minnesota roughed up for 12 hits and five runs in August.

Twins' catcher Joe Mauer enters Sunday's game trailing Miguel Cabrera by just .007 for the American League's batting crown. After going 0-for-3 on Saturday, Mauer is hitting .320 for the season. Cabrera leads all three triple crown categories heading into Sunday's games.

First pitch on Sunday is at 2:10 p.m. ET and will be broadcast on FOX.

Twins vs. Tigers score: Minnesota can't play spoiler in 6-4 loss

The Minnesota Twins can only play spoiler at this point, as they share the basement with the Cleveland Indians in the AL Central. On Friday, they made things tougher on the Detroit Tigers by picking up a 4-2 win, but weren't able to repeat that on Saturday, falling 6-4 in their penultimate game against Detroit.

Justin Verlander picked up the win for the Tigers, as he gave up just one run off of four hits through seven strong innings. He also had eight strikeouts on the day, while Minnesota starter P.J. Walters only managed to last five innings, with two runs off of four hits and five strikeouts. One of those hits was a solo home run by Prince Fielder in the second inning to give Detroit the lead they wouldn't relinquish.

Miguel Cabrera and Andy Dirks both managed home runs as well, in the eighth inning. Minnesota briefly brought it back in the eighth with a Ryan Doumit grand slam that scored Denard Span, Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau. Jose Valverde took over in the bottom of the ninth for the Tigers and brought down Ben Revere, Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau after a leadoff walk.

Tigers vs. Twins preview: Minnesota looks to take second straight over Detroit

The Minnesota Twins helped to maintain a tight A.L. Central race on Friday night when they defeated the Detroit Tigers, which allowed the Chicago White Sox to pick up a game in the division race. Minnesota can further complicate things for the Tigers with another win on Saturday, but it will likely be a considerably more difficult task.

That's because the Twins will be facing Tigers ace Justin Verlander, who is potentially closing in on his second straight Cy Young award. Verlander has been stellar in September, but will be making only his second start all year vs. the Twins. Of course, in his one other start against Minnesota in 2012, he pitched a four-hit complete game in which he struck out seven and allowed only a single run.

The Twin will counter with P.J. Walters, whose last start came against the Tigers at Comerica Park. In that game, Walters gave up only one earned run in five innings in a 2-1 Twins victory. Walters has made two other starts against Detroit this season, giving up only six earned runs in 18.1 total innings pitched.

First pitch is at 3:05 p.m. CT and the game will be broadcast on FOX.

Tigers vs. Twins final score: Minnesota takes Game 1, 4-2

The Minnesota Twins squandered a two-run lead late in Friday night's game but snatched back just as quickly en route to a 4-2 victory over the A.L. Central-leading Detroit Tigers. The Twins grabbed a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the seventh after a Ryan Doumit homer off of Tigers reliever Phil Coke, but the Tigers quickly tied the game in the top of the eighth when Omar Infante homered to legt. Doumit struck back in the bottom of the inning with a two-run double that would prove to be decisive.

Along with claiming all four of Minnesota's RBI, Doumit also had two of the team's four hits. The Tigers were stymied by Scott Diamond who threw 7.1 scoreless innings and only allowed one earned run. Jared Burton and Glen Perkins combined for a perfect 1.2 innings in relief, with Burton picking up the victory and Perkins collecting his 16th save of the season.

The two teams will be back at Target Field on Saturday at 3:05 p.m. when Justin Verlander takes on P.J. Walters.

Tigers vs. Twins lineups: Willingham still out, Carson in

Scott Diamond is on the mound for the Twins, who will have to play spoiler on Friday without Josh Willingham, who is still too sore to go.