Dean does his part to eat innings, save ‘pen

DETROIT — Before being called up last week, Pat Dean had made only four relief appearances in his professional career, both coming in rookie ball in 2010. On Monday he had a relief appearance that was essentially a start.

Dean threw 91 pitches over 5 1/3 innings after entering the game with two outs in the first inning. He allowed two earned runs and recorded the loss, but he kept the Twins in it long enough for them to erase an 8-0 deficit to tie the score before losing, 10-8, to the Detroit Tigers.

“I just did what I could to eat some innings and save the bullpen a bit,” Dean said. “I know that’s my job as the long guy. I was able to do that and keep us in the game for a little bit.”

After starter Jose Berrios allowed seven earned runs in two-thirds of an inning, Dean entered with the score 6-0 and allowed three straight hits, but he recorded the final out and moved forward from there with the Twins down by eight.

Minnesota chipped away at the lead and tied the score in the top of the seventh inning, and what was an appearance to eat …

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