Detroit Tigers’ Rally Falls Just Short In First Loss Of The Year

The Detroit Tigers six game win-streak to begin the season was snapped, Monday afternoon, when they fell 5-4, to the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Detroit fell behind early when Pirates’ leadoff man Josh Harrison took Tigers’ starter Anibal Sanchez deep to center field. Pittsburgh then tacked on one more off the bat of Andrew McCutchen, and took a 2-0 lead.

That score stood until the top of the seventh inning when a single by Miguel Cabrera, a walk by J.D. Martinez, and a single by Yoenis Cespedes, gave the Tigers a chance to rally.

Gerrit Cole, who finished an impressive day with eight strikeouts, gave way to Jared Hughes who forced Nick Castellanos to hit into a crucial double play, which scored a run, but slowed the Tigers’ momentum.

The Pirates, however, carried plenty of momentum into the bottom of the seventh, where they tacked on three runs, after home runs by Pedro Alvarez and Corey Hart.

At that point, Pittsburgh seemed to have pulled away for good, but Detroit’s offense, which can never be counted out of a ballgame, brought the Tigers’ chances back to life. Two mishandled throws led to consecutive doubles by Ian Kinsler and Cabrera, making the score 5-2, and then J.D. Martinez belted his fourth home run into the right field stands making it 5-4 with no outs.

After another Cespedes single, however, Castellanos showed little discipline once more, and grounded into his second double play of the game. Pirates’ closer Mark Melancon then struck out Victor Martinez to shut the door, and hand Detroit their first loss of the season.

Despite his final line, Sanchez was impressive on the day, as Tigers’ starting pitching continues to excel early on. Also of note was the Detroit’s bullpen, which kept the game within grand slam distance, after two scoreless innings from Al Alburquerque, and Ian Krol, respectively.

Detroit will try and shake off their first loss tomorrow when Shane Greene makes his second start Tigers start against veteran right-hander, A.J. Burnett. The game will begin at 7:05 and will be broadcast on Fox Sports Detroit, and 97.1 The Ticket.

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