Twins Get Ugly Win in Detroit

The last time it happened to the Tigers, Ty Cobb had been suspended, his teammates were on strike in sympathy and their uniforms were being worn by players from semipro teams and St. Joseph’s College.

It was May 18, 1912, and Detroit lost, 24-2, to the Philadelphia Athletics.

On Wednesday in Detroit, the Tigers lost to the Minnesota Twins, 24-11, with their regular players. That was the problem. Their regular players have lost seven games in a row.

Greg Myers and Paul Molitor each drove in five runs for the Twins, who set a team record for runs and moved Manager Tom Kelly to sympathize.

“That wasn’t very pretty, and all I can do is apologize to the fans in the stands who sat through that so-called exhibition of major league baseball,” he said.

“The only thing good about that game was that we won.”

Minnesota, which outhit Detroit, 19-14, blew a 7-2 lead, falling behind, 10-7, in the fourth inning before rallying. The Twins’ previous high for runs was in a 21-7 victory over Detroit on June 4, 1994.

The teams scored the most runs in a major league game since Philadelphia beat the Chicago Cubs, 23-22, on May 17, 1979.

It was the most runs scored in an American League game since Chicago beat Boston, 22-13, on May 31, 1970.

The only good part might have been that Tiger Manager Buddy Bell wasn’t around to see all of it. He was ejected. Also embarrassed.

“I think that’s a pretty good word, and I have as much to do with this as anyone,” Bell said.

Boston 11, Texas 9--Reggie Jefferson’s third double of the game broke a seventh-inning tie at Boston, where the Red Sox rallied from a 7-0 deficit.

Baltimore 11, Kansas City 8--Chris Hoiles hit two of the Orioles’ five home runs and Cal Ripken went four for five with a homer at Kansas City as Baltimore stopped a six-game losing streak.

Chicago 2, Seattle 1--Wilson Alvarez gave up only two hits, both singles, over eight innings at Chicago and Darren Lewis singled home the go-ahead run in the seventh for the White Sox, who won their third game in a row.

Oakland 7, Toronto 6--Mike Bordick drove in three runs at Toronto and Ariel Prieto (1-1) gave up five runs in as many innings but still got the victory for the Athletics, who won their fourth in a row.

New York 10, Cleveland 8--Dennis Martinez (3-2) fell to 2-15 lifetime against the Yankees, and, frustrated in New York, he was ejected in the fourth inning by umpire Gary Cederstrom for arguing a close pitch to Wade Boggs.