DETROIT -- For the second time in six days, the Tigers' offense awakened in its final turn at bat for a four-run inning to salvage a series split. Sunday afternoon’s 4-3 win over the Twins at Comerica Park, however, had a special ring to it, not just because it was against the defending American League Central champs or that it was manager A.J. Hinch’s 800th career win, but because of how it came together.

Javier Báez, mired in a 1-for-23 slump and booed by the home fans, started the comeback with an eighth-inning homer for the Tigers’ first run in 15 innings. Spencer Torkelson, lunging for a ball out of the strike zone to put it in play, ended it. In between, the Tigers showed the kind of opportunism at the plate and on the bases that continues to define their team.

“It doesn't matter if we're down like today, 3-0,” Báez said. “If we play together and we do small things, we're going to crawl back into games.”

“I'm a big believer in momentum,” Riley Greene said. “When you get that momentum, you ride it as long as possible.”

For a few steps, Greene seemed to ride that momentum from first base to home as the tying run. Or maybe it was karma. Mark Canha’s grounder bounced off Twins third baseman Kyle Farmer’s glove and rolled towards the same corner of the left-field stands that has bedeviled Greene as a defender this season.

Greene has seen enough oddities on the bounce there that he didn’t know what the ball might do. But he knew there was an opportunity for him to follow Carson Kelly home and score the tying run.

“It was hit in that weird angle,” Greene said. “And I saw it was hit there, so I knew there was a shot it was going to do something funky. And Joey [Cora’s] coaching third base, so I know I'm going.”

That’s the aggressiveness the Tigers have preached since Spring Training. It’s part of the reason they hired Cora to coach third base. They’ll make outs on the bases, but they’ll also take some runs they might not otherwise get.

“Right when I saw the ball down the line and I saw that he missed it, I was thinking home,” Greene said. “Once I saw Joey waving, just going nuts, then I was like, 'OK, put the head down and get there.' But I knew it had a shot to get all messed up.”

The bounce wasn’t that funky; it caromed back into fair territory. But left fielder Austin Martin was close enough to the stands that he had to backtrack to retrieve it as Greene charged around third.

Greene saw Torkelson yelling to slide on the inside of the plate and knew the throw was coming. His first-to-home time of 11.04 seconds was the second-fastest by a Tiger this year according to Statcast, behind Wenceel Pérez's dash as a pinch-runner Friday night.

“This is just another example of the near-safe and near-out,” Hinch said. “You’ve got to play aggressively, and everything matters on that play.”

Just as important as Greene’s dash home, Canha rounded second without hesitation. Catcher Christian Vázquez cut off Martin’s throw up the line and fired to third, but Canha was already sliding in.

Suddenly Torkelson, who struck out with the potential winning run on third and two outs in the 10th inning of Game 1 on Saturday, had the go-ahead run on third with one out. Canha’s extra base changed Torkelson’s at-bat.

“Oh, that’s ginormous,” Torkelson said. “Especialy with [Twins reliever Griffin] Jax’s stuff today, it’s a lot easier to get the job done when the infield’s in, one out. You almost feel like you’re playing with house money. There’s so many opportunities to get that run in, it takes a lot of pressure off your shoulders.”

That doesn’t mean it was simple. Torkelson fouled off a couple sinkers inside and had to foul off a 3-2 sweeper around the outside corner to stay alive. Jax got him to chase another sweeper further out, but Torkelson got enough to flare it into short right-center field -- where a second baseman at regular depth might have had a chance -- and bring Canha home.

“He’s camped if they’re back,” Torkelson said.

Much like the Tigers’ four-run ninth off Pirates closer David Bednar last Tuesday in Pittsburgh, small hits and baserunning paid off. It’s how Detroit can create offense when it’s not slugging.

“Those wins add up,” Torkelson said. “We’re going to look back at the end of the year, and us splitting that series rather than losing it to them is huge.”