Detroit Tigers Waste More Strong Pitching In Loss To Red Sox

Thursday afternoon the Detroit Tigers’ offense was nowhere to be found behind David Price in a loss against the Seattle Mariners. Price, who was making perhaps his last home start as a Tiger, went eight innings, allowed just two runs, and struck out seven, but failed to earn a victory.

Friday, the Detroit faithful were treated to more of the same.

This time out, the Tigers turned to Justin Verlander. Verlander, who had been dreadful in his last start against Baltimore, came back sharp against Boston. The former MVP went eight innings, allowed just one run, and struck out three, while walking no one.

However, once again Detroit’s offense fell flat.

The Tigers did jump out to early lead, much like they had against Seattle, but after Ian Kinsler drove home Jose Iglesias, Brad Ausmus’ team would fail to score for the rest of the night.

This was due in large part to the performance of former Tiger, Rick Porcello, was fantastic for Boston. Porcello, who has struggled for the Red Sox in 2015, was crisp against his old teammates, allowing just five hits, and one earned run over the course of seven impressive innings.

But, much like Verlander, Porcello received little support from his offense. Boston responded immediately to Detroit in the third and would be held scoreless against Verlander and the Detroit bullpen until the eleventh inning, when Xander Boegarts stepped up to the plate.

With a left-hander on the mound, Ausmus chose to pitch to Xander Boegarts, a right-handed hitter batting .310, instead of pitching to Pablo Sandoval, a left-handed hitter batting .257, and Boegarts promptly singled into center field to drive home the winning run.

It was only Boston’s second run of the game, but on this night, it was enough to send the Tigers two games under .500 and almost certainly into sellers at the trade deadline.

Detroit will return to the field against Boston tomorrow. The matchup will pit Alfredo Simon against Steven Wright. Simon, who goes for the Tigers, is 8-6 with a 4.63 ERA. Wright, meanwhile, is 3-3 with a 4.84 ERA. The game will take place at 4:05 and will be broadcast on Fox-Sports Detroit and 97.1 The Ticket.

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