MINNEAPOLIS — It was just a week ago that the Detroit Tigers lost in dispiriting fashion at home to the Los Angeles Angels. They went to bed that night with their once double-digit lead in the Central Division sliced to five games.

So much handwringing for so little reason.

After a breezy 7-0 win over the Twins Friday night, the Tigers will wake up Saturday with their lead over the Cleveland Guardians restored to 7 1/2 games and climbing.

The Tigers put a stranglehold on this one, scoring five runs in the first inning against rookie right-hander Pierson Ohl. And credit captain clutch, Dillon Dingler, for delivering the hit that opened the floodgates.

Colt Keith and Gleyber Torres started the inning with singles and Kerry Carpenter was credited with an RBI when his hard ground-ball to second base was booted by Luke Keaschall.

With one out, Spencer Torkelson worked a 12-pitch walk, fouling off five two-strike pitches at the bottom rail.

But when Wenceel Perez struck out, it looked like Ohl might escape with only a run on the board.

Dingler didn’t let that happen. He looped a two-run single to center. Zach McKinstry followed with an RBI and Javier Baez with an RBI double.

This is what Dingler has been doing, very quietly, all season. He came into the game slashing .324/.413/.485 with a .893 OPS with runners in scoring position. And with two outs and runners in scoring position, he’s been even better: .385/.489/.564 with a 1.053 OPS.

He came up with another runner in scoring position in the third inning and lined an RBI double to left.

Dingler was pretty clutch behind the plate, too, guiding 18-year veteran Charlie Morton through some rough waters early in the game.

The game was delayed 21 minutes because of a rain shower that blew through just as the pitchers were warming up. Morton’s entry was further delayed by his teammates’ long first-inning rally.

And, of all things, he struggled to find the feel of his money pitch, the curveball. His first inning was extended to 24 pitches by a pair of two-out walks. He had missed with five straight curveballs, but he ended the inning by striking out Matt Wallner, getting whiffs on two straight curveballs.

The key, though, Dingler kept hitting the curveball button on the PitchCom.

In the second inning, Morton gave up a leadoff double to Brooks Lee. With one out and Lee at third, Dingler called for three straight curveballs to lefty Edouard Julien. He missed with the first two, but Dingler stayed stubborn, called for it again, and got strike one.

Three pitches later, with the count full, Dingler called for the curveball once again and Morton got the swing-and-miss punch out.

Morton ended up soldiering through six scoreless innings. He allowed just two hits, but kept putting himself in duress with three walks, a hit-batsman and a lot of long at-bats.

And in the end, the curveball helped save him. He threw it 34 times and got seven whiffs on 12 swings.

Assist to Dingler for that.

There was also some encouragement out of the Tigers’ bullpen. Tommy Kahnle pitched a scoreless seventh inning. It was his first scoreless outing since Aug. 4 when he hung a zero on the Twins at Comerica Park.

Lefties Brant Hurter and Bailey Horn finished it out.

The Tigers (72-52) have won five of their last six games. They are 20 games over .500 for the first time since July 18.

____

©2025 www.detroitnews.com. Visit at detroitnews.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.