C.J. Cron and Jonathan Schoop homered, Martín Pérez pitched six solid innings and Minnesota beat the last-place Detroit Tigers 7-4 on Sunday to win two of three in the weekend series.
Minnesota increased its AL Central lead to 3½ games over the Cleveland Indians, who lost at home to Kansas City 9-8 in 10 innings.
Cron’s three-run shot to center field broke open a 2-0 game in the fourth and gave Pérez (9-5) plenty of cushion to work with.
The left-hander allowed two runs and five hits for his first win since July 5. It was the second time in his last three starts that Pérez went six innings and yielded two or fewer runs.
Minnesota leads the majors with 253 homers.
Cody Stashak pitched two scoreless innings. Lewis Thorpe allowed two runs in the ninth and was optioned to Triple-A Rochester after the game.
