Romine belts grand slam as Tigers topple Twins
DETROIT -- Andrew Romine hit his first career grand slam in the fourth inning and the Detroit Tigers held on for a 5-3 victory over the Minnesota Twins on Wednesday afternoon at Comerica Park.
The utility man's seventh career homer erased a 3-1 deficit made a winner out of Detroit starter Michael Fulmer (1-0), who finished strong after allowing three runs in the first three innings. Fulmer lasted six innings and struck out seven.
Tyler Collins added two hits and an RBI for Detroit (6-2). The Tigers have homered in each of their first eight games, a franchise record to start a season.
Alex Wilson tossed two scoreless innings to pick up the third save of his career and first since 2015. He got out of a two-on, two-out jam by retiring Eduardo Escobar on a flyout to end the game.
Brian Dozier led off the contest with his first home run this season for Minnesota (5-3), which has dropped the first two games of the series. Joe Mauer contributed a two-run single. Losing pitcher Kyle Gibson (0-1) gave up five runs on four hits in four innings.
Dozier ripped a 2-1 fastball over the left-center fence in the first to give the Twins a quick lead. Minnesota made it 3-0 in the third on Mauer's two-out, bases-loaded single. Fulmer wound up in that predicament by hitting a batter and walking another.
The Twins' lead evaporated in the fourth. Nicholas Castellanos sparked a five-run uprising with a leadoff double.
Collins knocked in Detroit's first run with a bases-loaded, one-out single. Gibson retired James McCann on a weak popup but Romine then golfed a 1-2 slider over the right-field wall to give his club a 5-3 lead.
Fulmer recovered from his slow start to retire the last 10 batters he faced.
NOTES: Twins CF Byron Buxton was not in the starting lineup. Buxton struggled mightily during the first seven games, going 2-for-29 (.069) with a major league leading 17 strikeouts. "Given how things have gone, it seems like a good day to back him off," manager Paul Molitor said. Buxton was used as a pinch-runner in the ninth. ... The Tigers signed 1B James Loney was signed to a minor league contract on Wednesday. The 32-year-old Loney, who made his major league debut in 2006, appeared in 100 games for the New York Mets last season and batted .265 with nine homers and 34 RBIs. He was in camp with the Texas Rangers but got released in late March. ... Minnesota RHP Phil Hughes will oppose RHP Jordan Zimmermann in the series finale on Thursday. Both won their season debuts. ... Twins 1B Joe Mauer's two-run single in the third gave him 100 career RBIs against the Tigers, more than any other active player.