Hope you had your coffee ready for this, the stupidest start time of the season. The Tigers had a very early game today because they have no off days this weekend so they needed time to get to Milwaukee. It’s also Boston Marathon day, which makes me wonder why they aren’t wearing their marathon-inspired City Connects. Anyway, we had Jack Flaherty on the mound for the Tigers, while Sonny Gray was getting the start for the Red Sox. The Tigers had taken the last two games in the series and were hoping to make it three of four.
Kevin McGonigle kicked things off in the first with a leadoff single, but was soon eliminated in a double play off the bat of Gleyber Torres. A Colt Keith flyout ended things with no runs scored. In the home half, Willson Contreras got a one-out single, then one out later, Masataka Yoshida took a walk, but Flaherty got out of the jam with no harm done. We did get treated to this incredible catch for the final out of the inning, though.
The Tigers went 1-2-3 in the top of the second. Things got incredibly weird in the bottom of the inning. Caleb Durbin got a one-out walk, followed by a single from Marcelo Mayer that advanced Dubrin to third. Carlos Narvaez reached on a fielder’s choice, and what should have been a rundown out on the third base path resulted in the ball getting thrown away and Durbin scoring. Flaherty was charged with the error. Roman Anthony then walked to load the bases. With two outs in the inning, Flaherty’s troubles continued and he walked Wilyer Abreu, walking in the second run of the game. That was it for the inning, but not at all a good showing from Flaherty.
Matt Vierling started the third with a double on a zippy line drive. Then a Hao-Yu Lee groundout got Vierling to third. A Jake Rogers single brought Matt home, and put the Tigers on the board.
Rogers saw an opening and successfully stole second while Torres worked on a lengthy at-bat against Gray. Torres fought out a walk, and then the Red Sox came out for a mound visit with Gray, who was obviously experiencing some issues. Gray was then pulled from the game, despite a strong early start, something was definitely wrong. Danny Coulombe came out of the Red Sox pen and collected the final out of the inning, leaving two men stranded. In the bottom of the inning, Flaherty got his footing back a little. He gave up a two-out double to Durbin, but the runner didn’t amount to anything as the next out finished the inning.
Riley Greene got a leadoff walk in the top of the fourth. However, a force out off the bat of Dillon Dingler eliminated Greene and deposited Greene safely on first. Kerry Carpenter was hit by a pitch to put two men on. Zack Kelly came in to replace Coulombe for the Sox. With two outs in the inning, Lee came in and collected his first major league hit, and an RBI at that, bringing in the tying run.
An update came through about Gray, who apparently left the game with a leg injury. I am not a doctor, but it looked like a potential hamstring injury. Good old unreliable Flaherty was back in gear in the bottom of the fourth, giving up back-to-back walks to Narvaez and Roman Anthony, and acting like the strike zone was an ex-girlfriend he was trying to avoid. Flaherty got the first out of the inning, but it would be his last out of the game as Hinch came in to pull him. Brant Hurter came out of the pen. Jack’s final line of the game was 3.1 IP, 2 R, 0 ER (though I feel like if you committed the error, you should still be responsible for the run), 6 BB, 3 K on 73 pitches. I would normally try to look at the bright side of any start, but the bright side here is that he was pulled before things got worse. Abreu hit into a force out at second, which was a bit of a heart-stopper as Torres struggled to tag second on time, but made it just before the runner. A lineout ended the inning and the threat.
The Tigers had a 1-2-3 inning in the top of the fifth, and for the first time all game, the Red Sox went down in order in the home half.
Jovani Morán came on in the top of the sixth, and gave up back-to-back walks to Greene and Dingler. Jahmai Jones came in to pinch-hit for Kerry Carpenter, and he singled, bringing Greene in and giving the Tigers the lead for the first time in the game.
The Sox made another pitching change, bringing in Greg Weissert, and he got the Tigers out in order after that. With one out in the home half, Narvaez doubled, then successfully stole third. Roman Anthony came in and singled, re-tying the game. Anthony then stole second. The Tigers stopped the bleeding at just one run, but the score was back to even.
Garrett Whitlock was the next Red Sox pitcher in, and he got the Tigers out in order in the top of the seventh. Tyler Holton replaced Hurter in the home half, and it was about to be one very ugly inning. Yoshida got things started with a single, followed by a walk to Trevor Story. A one-out single from Durbin got the bases loaded. Ceddanne Rafaela, on to pinch hit, hit a liner into right, to drive in two runs and get the Red Sox a much healthier lead. Durbin was tagged out at home, though, so it could have been worse. A wild pitch allowed Rafaela to advance, then Narvaez singled to bring him home. Anthony walked, and that was it for Holton, who was replaced by Drew Anderson. Anderson induced the final out of the inning, but the Sox were now ahead three runs.
Riley Greene singled at the top of the eighth, but was once again eliminated in a force out off the bat of Dingler. The Red Sox then got lucky with a review call that ultimately resulted in Wenceel Perez being ruled out at first instead of the initial safe call. Definitely a bummer for the Tigers. Yoshida got a one-out single in the home half. Trevor Story then doubled, but the Red Sox third base coach basically had to stand in front of Yoshida to keep him from going for home. He got there anyway when Isiah Kiner-Falefa singled to score two additional runs. Kiner-Falefa then stole second, but two outs followed, including another great catch by Greene at the Monster to keep the damage at least somewhat limited.
Lee kept going with MLB firsts, getting his first double with a leadoff in the top of the ninth. If there was one nice thing about losing the lead so spectacularly, the Tigers didn’t need to face Aroldis Chapman. Kevin McGonigle doubled, but Lee only advanced to third thanks to a strong arm with Abreu in the outfield. Torres singled, bringing Lee home. So much for avoiding Chapman, because the Red Sox now had to dip into the bullpen for him. With two outs, Riley Greene doubled, scoring another two runs. Chapman did the final out after that, though, so while the Tigers did make a valiant effort in the ninth, it wasn’t enough to stage a full comeback.
COVERS INTEL: Clement owns an .833 OPS in six career at-bats against Detmers.
Eric Samulski