MINNEAPOLIS — The most perfect strike thrown by a Twins player on Saturday — and there were a lot of good ones — was unleashed by Carlos Correa, a spin-and-fire one-hopper from short left field that turned the Tigers' lone scoring chance into an inning-ending out.
That, and a couple of well-placed, well-timed singles were all the Twins needed — and all they got — to hand the Tigers a lightning-quick 2-0 loss at Target Field.
Willi Castro broke up former teammate Joey Wentz's no-hit bid in the fifth inning by following Royce Lewis' walk with a line drive into left field, and Alex Kirilloff pulled a ground ball into right field to score Lewis and move Castro to third. He scored when Kirilloff broke up a possible double-play grounder by Ryan Jeffers with a hard slide into second base.
And in a development that's either extremely encouraging or intensely alarming, the Twins added only one other hit all day, an eighth-inning pop-fly double to short right field by Michael A. Taylor, yet for the second time this season turned a mere three hits into a 2-0 victory.
That's because a half-dozen Twins relievers combined to not only give the starting rotation a day off, but to outpitch them as well.
José De León made his first start since April 11, 2021, and retired all six Tigers he faced. Emilio Pagan recorded easy outs against the next five hitters, and Brent Headrick — recalled from Class AAA St. Paul before the game as Josh Winter was sent down — earned his first career victory by contributing 2 1/3 shutout innings. Brock Stewart needed only five pitches to retire three Tigers, and though Griffin Jax and Jhoan Duran each surrendered leadoff singles, both were erased by double plays.
Aside from the spectacle of the game's first 26 hitters going out in order (and in under an hour), the day's lone thrilling moment came in the Tigers' fifth, against Headrick. After striking out Javy Báez and getting Nick Mason on a fly out, the rookie left-hander walked Zack Short, the game's first baserunner.
Miguel Cabrera followed with a double — his 25th at Target Field, more than any visiting player in the stadium's history — into the left-field corner. As Short hustled around the bases, Castro retrieved the ball and flung it to Correa, who whistled a throw toward the plate. Jeffers caught it a couple inches off the ground and simultaneously tagged Short as he slid past.
The Tigers challenged the call, but replays confirmed the out,
