Twins Top Tigers, Rox Drop Finale to Stingers

The Minnesota Twins topped Detroit in the road series opener while the St. Cloud Rox fell to Willmar in the series finale Friday.

- The Twins beat Detroit 4-1 on the road to open the three-game weekend series on Friday. Minnesota knocked two out of the park to take a big 3-0 lead in the top of the second. Royce Lewis started things off with a solo home run and was followed up by a two-run homer from Max Kepler. Then in the sixth, Kyle Farmer made it home on a wild pitch from Detroit's Brendan White to give the Twins a 4-0 advantage. The Tigers got on the board in the bottom of the sixth with an RBI single from Matt Vierling to avoid the shutout. Kenta Maeda looked sharp on the mound for Minnesota, striking out eight batters and allowing no runs on three hits through five innings. The Twins improve to 39-38 and the Tigers fall to 32-42. The teams will take the field for game two on Saturday night. Pre-game coverage starts at 5:30 p.m. on AM 1240 and 95.3 FM WJON.

- The Rox came up short in game two against Willmar on Friday. After two scoreless innings, the Great Plains West Division-leading Stingers took a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the third. The Rox answered with a run of their own in the top of the fourth to close the gap to 2-1, but neither team mustered up another trip to the plate in the remaining innings. Ben Vujovich scored the lone goal for St. Cloud. Kolby Gartner allowed two runs on seven hits through the first four innings. The Rox fall to 15-9 and earn the series split. St. Cloud will stay on the road Saturday with a series opener in Mankato. Pre-game coverage begins at 6:05 p.m. on AM 1390 and 93.9 FM KXSS.