Detroit Tigers' Javier Báez homers for 2nd straight game, but Twins scorch Keider Montero

Javier Báez did it again.

For the second game in a row, Báez — the 31-year-old struggling shortstop of the Detroit Tigers — pulled the baseball over the wall in left field for a home run. He has launched a home run on back-to-back days for a total of three homers in 65 games.

He hit his first homer April 14.

"I'm feeling good at the plate right now," Báez said.

The Tigers, though, lost 9-3 to the Minnesota Twins on Friday in the first of three games in the series at Comerica Park, as right-hander Keider Montero surrendered three solo home runs, including a pair of homers in the first inning.

"Execution is a problem," manager A.J. Hinch said. "We've seen flashes that he can do it, and I'm looking forward to his next start, but I really think his struggles center around consistency in his delivery and execution. That's the difference between his good outings and his not-so-good outings."

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Montero, who has a 6.38 ERA in seven games (six starts), allowed six runs (five earned runs) on eight hits and one walk with five strikeouts across five innings, throwing 96 pitches.

He needed 35 pitches in a three-run fourth inning.

"I've always known this is a process," Montero said in Spanish through team interpreter Carlos Guillén. "Since I started playing this sport, I've known it's been a process. You have your ups and downs. I will always work to try to get better."

The Tigers (51-54) didn't give themselves a chance to build on Báez's big swing — a two-run home run off right-hander Pablo López — until the seventh inning.

Facing López, the first three batters loaded the bases that inning: Matt Vierling (double), Bligh Madris (single) and Carson Kelly (walk). The next three batters, though, stranded their three teammates: Gio Urshela (force out), Báez (pop out) and Wenceel Pérez (pop out).

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Báez failed to deliver with the bases loaded in the seventh inning and finished 1-for-4 with two RBIs. His back-to-back games with homers was the first time he accomplished the feat since May 4-5, 2023.

"I'm always trying to stay healthy," Báez said, "and I've been working a lot. We just got to play better, obviously. If I can stay hot, we're going to have a good second half."

The Tigers trimmed their deficit to 8-3 with Madris' RBI single off right-handed reliever Josh Staumont in the eighth inning, following the exit of López. The veteran right-hander led the Twins by throwing seven innings of two-run ball on six hits and one walk with seven strikeouts, using 97 pitches.

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Keider Montero crushed

Montero struck out ex-Tiger Willi Castro to open the first inning.

His outing spiraled after that.

"He's trying," Hinch said, "but executing pitches is really key. When he was trying to go up, he yanked down. When he was trying to go breaking ball down, he would leave it up."

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Bryon Buxton and Trevor Larnach hit back-to-back home runs in the first inning, with Buxton smacking a hanging slider to left-center and Larnach blasting a fastball at the bottom of the strike zone to right-center. In the third inning, Matt Wallner hit a home run to right on a down-and-in curveball.

All three homers were solo shots.

"The early game solo homers, we're still in the game," Hinch said, "so there's not a lot to worry about, especially when Javy comes back and brings us closer, we're still in that game."

The Twins tacked on three more runs in the fourth inning for a 6-2 advantage, thanks to a two-run single from Castro and an RBI double from Buxton. For the two-run single, Castro hit a slider that hung over the middle of the zone.

Montero retired all three batters in a scoreless fifth inning, ending his outing.

Joey Wentz has trouble

Left-handed reliever Joey Wentz, who owns a 5.73 ERA, took over for Montero in the sixth inning.

He immediately gave up two runs.

Christian Vázquez hit a changeup that caught too much of the middle of the zone for a two-run home run to left. Of his five homers, three of them have occurred against the Tigers.

Right-handed reliever Will Vest recorded the final two outs in the eighth inning and all three outs in the ninth inning, but he walked a batter with the bases loaded in the ninth to make it 9-3.

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' Javier Báez homers for 2nd straight game, but Twins scorch Keider Montero