This time reliever Matt Guerrier could relax after the game. He threw two shutout innings Thursday at Detroit, got the win and successfully rebounded after a poor appearance at Fenway Park on Tuesday.
After that game Guerrier pored over video, looking at his missed pitches that led to a blown lead and a Minnesota loss. On Thursday, Guerrier said, he applied a lesson he'd been reminded of against the Red Sox. "Today I threw one or two sinkers and they weren't doing what I felt like I needed them to do, so I went with just a four-seamer," said Guerrier, now 5-4 with a 3.42 ERA. "That's the kind of things you have to do, make adjustments on the field, and I didn't do that the other day, so it's good to be out there and have good results."
Before Thursday's game, manager Ron Gardenhire said that while he expected his young players to be affected by the Fenway Park atmosphere, he was surprised that it was his bullpen that seemed a bit "out of whack."
Thursday, though, brought vindication.
"Our bullpen kind of redeemed themselves," Gardenhire said. "That was pretty special, a lot of big pitches made against a good lineup."
TWINS 7, TIGERS 6 (11 innings): RHP Kevin Slowey gave up five runs in the fourth inning, but Minnesota's bullpen worked 7 1/3 shutout innings and Justin Morneau hit a winning solo home run in the 11th as the Twins snapped a three-game losing streak and ended Detroit's three-game winning streak.
