ARCHIVE April 8, 2026
April 8, 2026 · AL Cent

Detroit Tigers vs Minnesota Twins

April 8, 2026Target FieldPartly Cloudy 51°F · 15 mph, Out To CF
AWAY
Detroit Tigers
4-8
6
vs
HOME
Minnesota Twins
6-6
8

Starting pitchers

AWAY · DET
Framber Valdez
Framber Valdez
IP 5
HOME · MIN
Bailey Ober
Bailey Ober
IP 5.2

Lineups

AWAY · DET
  1. 1 Colt Keith 1B
  2. 2 Kevin McGonigle 3B
  3. 3 Gleyber Torres DH
  4. 4 Kerry Carpenter RF
  5. 5 Riley Greene LF
  6. 6 Dillon Dingler C
  7. 7 Matt Vierling CF
  8. 8 Zach McKinstry 2B
  9. 9 Javier Báez SS
HOME · MIN
  1. 1 Byron Buxton CF
  2. 2 Austin Martin LF
  3. 3 Luke Keaschall 2B
  4. 4 Ryan Jeffers C
  5. 5 Victor Caratini 1B
  6. 6 Josh Bell DH
  7. 7 Matt Wallner RF
  8. 8 Royce Lewis 3B
  9. 9 Brooks Lee SS

Box score

  123456789 R
DET 000002400 6
MIN 600101000 8

Manager comparison

Both managers grade C- / B entering this matchup.

AWAY · DET
A.J. Hinch
C- Lineup 2.7 R Bunts 0.2 R IBBs 0.1 R
HOME · MIN
Derek Shelton
B Lineup 0.8 R Bunts 0.5 R IBBs 0.4 R

Recent form

AWAY · DET
3-7 L4 -5 run diff
LLLLWWLWLL
HOME · MIN
3-7 L3 -21 run diff
LLLWWLLWLL

Season series: 0-2 with DET listed first across 2 prior meetings.

Tactical analysis

RunsLeft separates manager decisions from player execution from game variance. Each card below is the same three-number framework that drives the share cards on the SPA replay page.

AWAY · Detroit Tigers
  • Manager lineup cost +0.09 R/G Optimal arrangement projects 3.88 vs actual lineup 3.78
  • Player execution +2.22 R/G Players exceeded the lineup's 3.78 projection by 2.22 (scored 6)
  • Game variance +2.12 R/G Total game outcome vs optimal expectation

Báez 2-for-4 from the 9-hole

HOME · Minnesota Twins
  • Manager lineup cost −0.03 R/G Optimal arrangement projects 3.48 vs actual lineup 3.51
  • Player execution +4.49 R/G Players exceeded the lineup's 3.51 projection by 4.49 (scored 8)
  • Game variance +4.52 R/G Total game outcome vs optimal expectation

Lewis 2-for-3 from the 8-hole

COUNTERFACTUAL

Optimal lineups projected 3.9 – 3.5 — actual was 6 – 8.

Keep reading

How RunsLeft analyzes games

Standard content on this page comes from the MLB Stats API. Tactical analysis comes from a per-game Monte Carlo: 10,000 simulated games against the opposing starter's ERA, both for the actual lineup the manager wrote and for the optimal arrangement of those nine players. The three numbers — manager cost, player execution, game variance — separate which part of the result was the lineup, the players, or the dice.

Read the full methodology.