Louie Varland took to the mound for his first start since securing a place in the Twins’ rotation, but it turned out to be a disappointing outing. During the Twins’ 12-3 defeat against the Detroit Tigers at Hammond Stadium, Varland struggled, giving up nine hits and eight runs over four innings.
Varland had earned the final spot in the rotation following Anthony DeSclafani’s elbow injury. Most of the hits against Varland were singles until Carson Kelly’s two-run homer in the fourth inning.
Despite his efforts to incorporate more sinkers and changeups, Varland couldn’t avoid giving up hits, even with soft contact on his fastball. The Tigers added three more runs against Twins reliever Jorge Alcala in the ninth inning, who exited the game after experiencing discomfort in his hand.
Despite playing in front of a packed crowd, the Twins managed only two hits against Tigers starter Casey Mize. Ryan Jeffers broke Detroit’s shutout attempt with a solo homer against Tigers lefty Joey Wentz.