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DETROIT — Third baseman Zach McKinstry accounted for six runs allowed in a bizarre 12th inning, as the Tigers dropped a lengthy 11-5 decision to the Minnesota Twins in the opening game of a doubleheader on Saturday.

Stuck in a 4-4 game in the 12th, the Twins took advantage of a bases-loaded walk and a three-run error by McKinstry at third, when Ryan Jeffers hit a grounder that went through his legs.

Then, needing pitchers on a long day when his club had already used five, Detroit manager AJ Hinch called on McKinstry to take the mound and help the Tigers get out of the inning. McKinstry proceeded to walk Manuel Margot before allowing a three-run homer to Matt Wallner.

“The 12th was a mess of an inning,” Hinch said. “The game, we had tons of opportunities. In the new rule of extra innings, when you hold the opponent in the top half of the inning to no runs, you’ve got to score. That’s where you have to put the game away. Those missed opportunities are missed wins.”

Twins manager Rocco Baldelli lauded Jeffers’ effort in what ended up being a 12-pitch at-bat that led to the error, before adding that “the ball was hit hard, and it took a funny hop. That’s why it kind of led to what it did. Obviously, that was a huge moment of separation for us.”

The Twins ultimately scored eight runs in extra innings, the most in franchise history since Aug. 1, 1970, which also came in a victory over the Tigers, according to ESPN Stats & Information research.

“We had to do a lot of good, crisp baseball things today,” Baldelli said. “Our pitching led the way today. … It couldn’t have worked out much better.”

Detroit reliever Alex Lange (0-1), who loaded the bases before McKinstry’s error, took the loss, ending Detroit’s two-game winning streak. He walked Willi Castro to start the 12th and Christian Vazquez bunted, but first baseman Spencer Torkelson‘s throw to third was late, setting the stage for the error.

The Tigers finished Game 1 with 17 strikeouts.

“That’s not a recipe for more runs,” Hinch said. “We’re certainly more of a contact team than we’ve shown the last few games. We want that to be just a little bit of an anomaly. But it’s been the story the last couple of days.”

Tigers starter Kenta Maeda allowed two runs — one earned — on five hits in six innings against his old team. He struck out five without walking a batter. Jorge Alcala (1-0) picked up the win after allowing a run in the 12th.

Minnesota’s Joe Ryan struck out a career-high 12 batters in six innings but gave up three runs — one earned — on six hits and a walk.

The Tigers took a 2-0 lead in the first when Kerry Carpenter homered. Martin’s RBI double made it 2-1 in the third.

Maeda had a chance at an inning-ending 1-6-3 double play in the fifth, but his throw sailed into center field to put runners on the corners. Santana grounded to first, but the Tigers again failed to turn the double play, allowing Martin to score the tying run from third.

Colt Keith‘s RBI single put the Tigers up 3-2 in the sixth, but Jeffers tied the game with a pinch-hit homer off Shelby Miller in the eighth. He also drove in Minnesota’s 11th-inning run with a single.

In the second game, Edouard Julien and Willi Castro homered as the Twins completed the doubleheader sweep with a 4-1 victory. McKinstry did not start the nightcap, but struck out swinging in the eighth inning as a pinch hitter.

“That’s a bad sign, if one game like that carried into the other,” Hinch said, when asked if Game 1’s disappointment led to Game 2’s result. “I don’t think it did. This team is too resilient. … I don’t think that’s what the DNA of this team is.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Pirates ball-crusher Cruz accepts HR Derby invite

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Pirates ball-crusher Cruz accepts HR Derby invite

Pittsburgh Pirates center fielder Oneil Cruz accepted an invitation on Tuesday to compete in Monday’s Home Run Derby in Atlanta.

Cruz is the fifth player to commit to the competition, held one day before the All-Star Game. The others are Ronald Acuna Jr. of the Atlanta Braves, Cal Raleigh of the Seattle Mariners, James Wood of the Washington Nationals and Byron Buxton of the Minnesota Twins.

Cruz, 26, is known for having a powerful bat and regularly delivers some of the hardest-hit homers in the sport. His home run May 25 at home against the Milwaukee Brewers had an exit velocity of 122.9 mph and was the hardest hit homer in the 10-year Statcast era.

But Cruz has never hit more than 21 in a season, and that was in 2024. He’s on track to set a new high this year and has 15 in 80 games.

Cruz has 55 career homers in 324 games with the Pirates.

Cruz will be the first Pittsburgh player to participate in the Derby since Josh Bell in 2019. Other Pirates to be part of the event were Bobby Bonilla (1990), Barry Bonds (1992), Jason Bay (2005), Andrew McCutchen (2012) and Pedro Alvarez (2013).

Overall, Cruz is batting just .203 this season but leads the National League with 28 steals.

Among the players to turn down an invite to the eight-player field are two-time champion Pete Alonso of the New York Mets, Kyle Schwarber of the Philadelphia Phillies and 2024 runner-up Bobby Witt Jr. of the Kansas City Royals.

Defending champion Teoscar Hernandez of the Los Angeles Dodgers recently turned down a spot as a consideration to nagging injuries.

Top power threats Aaron Judge of the New York Yankees and Shohei Ohtani of the Dodgers also are expected to skip the event.

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Yanks moving Chisholm back to 2B after 3B stint

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Yanks moving Chisholm back to 2B after 3B stint

New York Yankees All-Star Jazz Chisholm Jr., after making 28 starts in a row at third base, is moving back to second base starting with Tuesday’s game against the Seattle Mariners, manager Aaron Boone said.

Boone confirmed the change on the “Talkin’ Yanks” podcast on Tuesday.

Chisholm, who is batting .245 with 15 home runs, 38 RBIs and 10 steals in 59 games, has recently been bothered by soreness in his right shoulder, which he said is an issue only on throws.

He said he prefers to play second base and prepared in the offseason to exclusively play in that spot before injuries played havoc with Boone’s lineup card, starting with Chisholm’s oblique injury in May.

Third baseman Oswaldo Cabrera went down with a season-ending ankle injury on May 12.

DJ LeMahieu manned second base while Chisholm was at third, but Boone has a better glove option in Oswald Peraza, a utility man with a stronger arm plus defensive skills across the infield.

LeMahieu, 36, is batting .266 with two home runs and 12 RBIs this season.

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White Sox reinstate OF Robert (hamstring) from IL

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White Sox reinstate OF Robert (hamstring) from IL

The Chicago White Sox reinstated outfielder Luis Robert Jr. (hamstring) from the 10-day injured list Tuesday.

Robert, 27, has struggled this season through career lows in batting average (.185), on-base percentage (.270) and slugging percentage (.313). Through 73 games, he has amassed just 16 extra-base hits (eight doubles, eight home runs) in 285 plate appearances.

He does have 22 stolen bases in 28 attempts and is just one shy of his career- high in steals.

In a corresponding move, the White Sox optioned infielder Tristan Gray to Triple-A Charlotte. Gray was just recalled before Monday night’s game but did not play.

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