Detroit Tigers Out-Duel Oakland A’s in 1-0 Victory

May 26, 2015; Oakland, CA, USA; Detroit Tigers starting pitcher David Price (14) throws a pitch against the Oakland Athletics during the fifth inning at O.co Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Ed Szczepanski-USA TODAY Sports

The Detroit Tigers defeated the Oakland A’s 1-0 in the middle game of their three game series. David Price got the start for the Tigers tonight. He didn’t have his best stuff, but he battled his way through 8 innings of shutout ball, scattering 5 hits and 1 walk with 3 strikeouts.

If you turned the game on late, you missed the only offense in the game. If you went to bed early, you probably saw all of it. The Tigers got on the board in the top half of the first. Anthony Gose led the game off with a base hit to right field. He stole second base and took third on an error on the throw from the catcher, Josh Phegley. He then scored on a sacrifice fly from Rajai Davis to give them the 1-0 lead.

Besides the offense in the top of the first, neither side had incredible threats. The A’s had multiple baserunners on in the 4^th and 5^th, but could not score them. Price battled his way through some inconsistency early in the game to retire the final 8 batters he faced.

In the 8^th, Joba Chamberlain retired the only two batters he faced, Tom Gorzelanny gave up a base hit to Stephen Vogt, and Joakim Soria retired the first of four batters in his second four out save of the season.

On the other side, Jesse Chavez had a great night for the A’s. After the first inning, Chavez was never in any stressful situations. He scattered 5 hits in his 8 innings, surrendering only 1 unearned run with 2 walks and 4 strikeouts.

The Kansas City Royals lost to the New York Yankees for the second straight night, so the Tigers are 2 games back of first place in the AL Central. The Tigers and A’s will finish their series Wednesday afternoon at 3:00 as Alfredo Simon (5-2, 2.67 ERA) takes on Scott Kazmir (2-3, 3.09 ERA).