MINNEAPOLIS — Jake Cave hit a pair of home runs, Kenta Maeda finished off his regular season with another strong start and the Minnesota Twins beat the Detroit Tigers 7-6 on Wednesday night to take over sole possession of the AL Central lead for the first time since late August.
Eddie Rosario added a two-run homer for Minnesota (35-22), which has won four straight. The Twins moved a half-game ahead of the second-place White Sox (34-22).
Maeda (6-1) allowed three runs and four hits in six innings with nine strikeouts.
After an infield hit to the first batter of the game, Maeda (6-1) retired 15 of his next 16 batters and didn’t allow a hit during that stretch. He gave up a three-run homer to Miguel Cabrera in the sixth.
Cabrera hit another three-run homer with two outs in the ninth off Sergio Romo, his ninth home run this season. Romo retired Jeimer Candelario on a groundout for his fifth save in six chances.
Tigers rookie Casey Mize (0-3) gave up six runs and five hits in 4 2/3 innings. Mize, the first-overall pick in the 2018 amateur draft, finished his rookie season with a 6.99 ERA in seven starts.
Cave hit a two-run homer in the fourth and an opposite-field solo shot to left leading off the sixth, giving him four homers this season.