Dozier, Twins shock Tigers with ninth-inning rally
Brian Dozier capped a seven-run outburst in the bottom of the ninth inning with a three-run homer against Tigers closer Joakim Soria to give the Twins an 8-6 walk-off victory. The win marks the first time since May 27, 1997 that Minnesota walked off with a win after trailing by at least five runs entering the bottom of the ninth inning – the Twins erased a five-run deficit in the ninth inning against the Mariners in that comeback victory. For the Tigers, it marks just the second time in the last 65 years that they lost a game in which they led by at least five runs in the ninth inning or later. On August 29, 1986, the Angels plated eight runs in the bottom of the ninth inning to clinch a 13-12 win over Detroit, capped by a walk-off grand slam by Dick Schofield.
Dozier, who also launched a walk-off home run on July 6 against the Orioles to open the Twins’ home-stand, is the second player in franchise history to record multiple walk-off homers in a single home-stand. Roy Sievers achieved that feat for the Washington Senators in the 1958 campaign, having hit game-ending homers against the Indians on July 16 and the White Sox on July 20.