Unable to capitalize on a bases-loaded opportunity in the bottom of the ninth, the Red Sox went to extra innings and came up empty, losing 6-5 to the Detroit Tigers in 10 innings, who snapped a six-game losing streak.
Jaimer Candelario drove a pitch into the right field box seats off rookie Garrett Whitlock to provide the margin of victory. It was just the ninth win all season for the Tigers.
Boston managed two runs in the bottom of the 10th as Detroit tried desperately to give the game back, but with the potential tying run on second and winning run on first, Michael Fulmer, the sixth Tiger pitcher of the night, struck out Kike Hernandez to close it out.
The Sox had rallied from being down 3-1 with a two-run homer from J.D. Martinez in the seventh. But the Sox were a woeful 2-for-12 with runners in scoring position and managed just six hits all night.
WHO: Red Sox (18-12) vs. Detroit Tigers (8-22)
WHEN: 7:10 p.m.
WHERE: Fenway Park
SERIES TO DATE: Red Sox 1-0
STARTING PITCHERS: LHP Martin Perez (0-2, 4.70) vs. RHP Casey Mize (1-3, 5.06)
TV/RADIO: NESN/WEEI-FM
LINEUPS
TIGERS
Grossman LF
Schoop DH
Candelario 3B
Cabrera 1B
Goodrun SS
Castro 2b
Jones RF
Reyes RF
Greiner C
RED SOX
Hernandez 2B
Devers 3B
Martinez DH
Bogaerts SS
Vazquez C
Gonzalez 1B
Arroyo 2B
Renfroe RF
Cordero LF
IN-GAME OBSERVATIONS:
T10: Garrett Whitlock's struggles continue, as he misfires on a sinker middle-in and Jeimer Candelario turns on it and it deposits it into the right field box seats for a three-run homer. Whitlocked had been unscored upon in his first six major league appearances but he's given up homers in each of his last two outings.
B9: Game on the line -- tie, bases loaded and Xander Bogaerts up. Sinking liner to left is caught by Robbie Grossman and we're onto the 10th.
B7: Why, yes, that will do for the first hit with RISP for the Sox tonight. Martinez drives a fastball up in the zone and delivers it into the Red Sox bullpen. Tie game.
B7: Red Sox have Hernandez at second and Martinez at the plate, with the Red Sox still looking for their first hit with runners in scoring position. They're 0-for-8 so far.
T6: Poor execution there by Perez, who was ahead of Jacoby Jones 1-and-2 and threw a sinker on the inner half that Jones laced off The Wall for a two-run single.
B5: Sox have done very little vs. Casey Mize, with two singles -- back-to-back in the fourth, the first of the infield variety -- over the first five innings.
T5: Nice play all around as Rafael Devers barehands a slow roller and at first, Marwin Gonzalez stretches to take a low throw for the inning-ending out.
B4: Hunter Renfroe has been better at making contact lately, but with two strikes, didn't cut down his swing at all with a man on third and goes down with a mighty swing, stranding two runners.
T4: As if Franchy Cordero doesn't have enough issues (currently 0-for-24), he charges a single in left and has the ball clang off his glove, allowing a run to score and two others to advance an extra base.
T4: Martin Perez struggling with his command, with two walks to his last four hitters.
B2: Not exactly a big hit, but Christian Arroyo gets the job done with a groundout to the right side, scoring Xander Bogaerts. Textbook example of what Cora means when he mentions "team at-bat'' -- getting a baserunner home from third with less than two outs.
T2: Kike Hernandez, who is quite comfortable in CF, comes racing in for a sliding catch on a sinking pop-up in shallow center field.
PRE-GAME STATS: : The Red Sox are tied with the San Francisco Giants (18-12, .600) for the second-best record in the majors behind the Oakland A's (19-12, .613). The Sox’ +24 run differential ranks third in the AL....This is the ninth time in the last 19 years the Sox have started 18-12 or better through 30 games... In seven of the previous eight, they quality the postseason. The Sox have won as many as 19 of their first 31 games on 33 occasions, most recently in 2013 and 2018. Both times, the Sox went on to win the World Series...The Sox have won six in a row against the Tigers, their longest winning streak since they won seven straight from 2010-11...In the current winning streak, the Sox have scored at least six runs and have outscored the Tigers by a margin of 54-29 margin...The Red Sox lead the majors in batting average (.265), slugging percentage (.449), OPS (.776), doubles (67), and extra-base hits (107)...They also lead the league in runs (149)...In Tuesday's win, the Sox had four homers, their third such game this season. In the last four games, the Sox have homered 10 times after collecting just one homer in the previous five games....Overall, they rank tied for seventh in the AL with 37 homers (37).....Xander Bogaerts has 6 homers in his last 13 games, including three n his last four games...Bogaerts leads MLB shortstops in batting average (.351), OBP (.385), slugging percentage (.604), OPS (.988), doubles (10), hits (39), and extra-base hits (16). Bogaerts leads the majors in hits and ranks fifth in AVG...He is tied for the AL lead in doubles....Sox pitchers have been beaten up of late, allowing 19 runs in the last three games; in the four games prior to that, the Sox had allowed just four earned runs. Overall, the Sox rank seventh in the AL and 13th in the majors in ERA (3.86)....Alex Verdugo has reached in 23 straight games, tied for the longest streak by a player this season with Joey Gallo of Texas, who reached base in 23 straight from April 1-27...It's the longest such streak for a Red Sox player since Mookie Betts reached in 25 consecutive games in 2019...During the streak, Verdugo has hit .353 with a 1.001 OPS...Matt Barnes is a perfect 7-for-7 in save situations and is unscored upon in those situations with limiting hitters to a 1-for-23 with 12 strikeouts and just one walk...Miguel Cabrera is 4-for-8 in his career against Martin Perez while Jonathan Schoop is 4-for-12 and Victor Reyes is 4-for-6....Bogaerts has hit in four straight and Hunter Renfroe has hits in three in a row.
NOTES:
- Cora praised his team's offensive approach Tuesday, which exploded for 11 runs. "It was good to see,'' he said. "We were able to put the ball in play in certain situations and stay up the middle. It was refreshing to see the guys make a conscious effort to stay up the middle and (go) the other way. They got rewarded. Big things are going to happen when you do that. But you have to stay with your approach.''
- Cora hopes that Martin Perez continues to attack the strike zone, the way he did in Arlington last week. He also had his best changeup then, and can use that to expand the strike zone when he throws his fastball for strikes.
- Bobby Dalbec, out of the lineup, is 0-for-20, is "working on his timing,'' according to Cora. "It just takes one swing for him. I don't have to think it has to be a line drive to right field -- get a hanging breaking ball and pull it for power, just something positive. We understand that there's an adjustment period for him. I don't want him to put pressure on himself. Just be (himself). Right now, offensively, it hasn't clicked. But we know at some point, he's going to start hitting the ball in the air and he should be fine.'' Cora has seen some defensive metrics for Dalbec which aren't flattering for the rookie, but doesn't understand those. "I think as far as picking (low) throws, he's been great,'' said Cora. "He's done a good job. He's made his errors, but as far as helping the other two guys on the other side of the field, he's been solid. I think our guys are better than what they're showing in the numbers. He's been good for us.''
- Phillips Valdez hasn't pitched since the Mets series, but he's physically fine. "The game hasn't called his name,'' Cora said. "(Tuesday), the way the game was going, he was going to pitch two innings. But (when the Tigers got closer), it didn't happen.''
- Alex Verdugo, who was in the original lineup in center and batting second, was scratched a few hours before gametime with a stiff back. As a result, the Sox shifted Kike Hernandez from second to center and inserted Christian Arroyo into the lineup at second.