Detroit Tigers' Kenta Maeda hammered in 7-inning 12-3 loss to Minnesota Twins

MINNEAPOLIS — Detroit Tigers second baseman Colt Keith swung so aggressively that his helmet didn't stay on his head. As a result, he hit the ball 426 feet and into the second deck in right-center field for the fifth home run of his rookie season.

Keith jogged around the bases without his helmet.

The Fourth of July fireworks from Keith looked pretty, but a deluge of runs, and then an actual deluge, left the Tigers with an ugly 12-3 loss to the Minnesota Twins in Thursday's finale of the three-game series at Target Field, all because right-hander Kenta Maeda struggled again.

"I feel bad," Maeda said in Japanese, though interpreter Daichi Sekizaki. "I feel like I let the team down. I think that was the result of my body language."

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Maeda had already been tagged for multiple runs when the rain started falling in Minneapolis, but the umpires kept the game going into the seventh inning. Eventually, the umpires stopped play, and after a brief rain delay, the game was called with two outs in the bottom of the seventh.

With Thursday's loss, the Tigers (39-48) have dropped seven of their past eight series. Also, the Tigers haven't won two games in a row since winning three in a row from June 2-4. Since then, they've lost 18 of 26 games.

Maeda signed a two-year, $24 million contract with the Tigers , owed $14 million in 2024 and $10 million in 2025. President of baseball operations Scott Harris expected Maeda to help the young pitchers learn to command their pitches .

He owns a 6.71 ERA in 15 starts.

"We've got to find the command again," manager A.J. Hinch said. "With Kenta, it begins and ends with command. ... The way he's effective is dominating the strike zone. It's not falling behind and getting into bad counts and missing middle. We need to sort out his command for him to be the pitcher he can be."

This time, the 36-year-old allowed nine runs on nine hits and three walks with three strikeouts across 3⅔ innings, throwing 88 pitches. He continues to increase his fastball velocity, but he can't command any of his pitches.

Maeda squandered a three-run lead.

Keith provided a 1-0 advantage when he turned on a middle-in slider from right-hander Bailey Ober for a solo home run with two strikes and one out in the first inning. The distance of 426 feet marked the longest homer of his career.

"It was really good," Keith said. "I just want to be on time for the fastball, and he ended up hanging a slider. I was able to pull it out of the park."

Over a 50-game span beginning May 1, Keith is hitting .281 with all five of his home runs.

The Tigers tacked on two more runs in the second inning for a 3-0 lead, thanks to a two-strike, two-out double from Jake Rogers.

From there, everything fell apart for the Tigers.

Kenta Maeda struggles

The Twins torched Maeda, who pitched for the Twins from 2020-23, for two runs in the second inning, three runs in the third inning and four runs in the fourth inning.

In the third inning, the Twins took a 4-3 lead when Max Kepler delivered a two-run single with two outs. An ensuing infield single from Manuel Margo pushed the Twins' lead to 5-3 in the third.

"I have to put away guys, especially with two strikes," Maeda said. "Those pitches with two strikes need to be better. My strikeout rate has gone down this year. Hopefully, if I can get those pitches back, that will go up."

The Twins broke open the game in the fourth inning after Maeda retired the first two batters. He walked the next two batters, opening the door for Jose Miranda's two-run double off his slider and Ryan Jeffers' two-run home run off his splitter.

The score was 9-3 when Maeda walked off the mound.

Miranda finished 5-for-5 with three RBIs, posting three doubles and two singles. Jeffers went 3-for-4 with four RBIs and Kepler went 2-for-4 with two RBIs, providing the other multi-hit performances for the Twins.

Maeda, meanwhile, generated 11 whiffs on 41 swings — a 26.8% whiff rate — with five sliders, one splitter, two sinkers, one sweeper and two cutters. He entered Thursday's start averaging a 22% whiff rate in his first 15 outings, much worse than last year's 28.2% whiff rate in 21 games.

More bad pitching

Left-handed reliever Joey Wentz replaced Maeda in the fourth inning and covered 2⅓ innings. He surrendered two runs (one earned run) on three hits and three walks with one strikeout.

The Twins grabbed an 11-3 lead with Jeffers' two-run single on a ground ball to Wentz. Only one runner should've scored, but Wentz threw the ball away for an error, which allowed the second runner to score on the play.

Right-handed reliever Shelby Miller gave up one run in the seventh inning, making it 12-3, and hit a batter in the head because a pitch slipped out of his hand. After that, the game entered its terminal rain delay.

Wentz has a 5.11 ERA; Miller has a 6.41 ERA.

Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him @EvanPetzold .

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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Tigers' Kenta Maeda hammered in 7-inning 12-3 loss to Minnesota Twins