Pitching Falters In Tigers' 7-5 Loss To Rays
DAVE HOGG
Associated Press
DETROIT (AP) — Steven Souza and Steve Pearce homered to help the Tampa Bay Rays beat the Detroit Tigers 7-5 Friday night.
Miguel Cabrera homered twice in losing effort for the Tigers, who snapped a four-game winning streak.
Matt Andriese (3-0) picked up the win despite allowing four runs in 5 1/3 innings. Four relievers followed, with Alex Colome pitching the ninth for his 11th save in 11 chances.
Anibal Sanchez (3-5) allowed five runs in five-plus innings for the Tigers.
Sanchez has struggled early in games this year as opponents have a .864 OPS against him on the second time through the batting order. Things got worse on Friday. Souza homered on his second pitch, and Tampa Bay added two more runs in the first on Corey Dickerson's double and Logan Morrison's single.
The Tigers got a run back in the second when Andriese balked with runners on the corners, and Detroit tied the score in the third.
Ian Kinsler singled, but J.D. Martinez hit what looked like a routine double-play ball to shortstop Brad Miller. Second baseman Pearce, though, was shifted to the left-field side of second base and froze instead of covering second base. Pearce, normally a first baseman and corner outfielder, was making just his 19th career start at second.
Miller threw Martinez out, but it cost Andriese a run when Cabrera homered three pitches later.
Sanchez had a surprisingly easy time with his second time through Tampa Bay's order, only allowing an infield single, but Tigers manager Brad Ausmus pulled him after he allowed a single and a walk to start the sixth. Kyle Ryan retired the first two batters he faced, but walked Logan Morrison before Kevin Kiermaier tripled into the right-field corner.
The Tigers got a run back in the bottom of the sixth, but Evan Longoria made an outstanding play to start an inning-ending double play with the bases loaded.
Cabrera made it 6-5 in the seventh, homering off the facing of the camera platform in straightaway center field off Erasmo Ramirez. Pearce, though, moved the lead back to two with an eighth-inning homer off Alex Wilson.
TRAINER'S ROOM
Rays: RHP Brad Boxberger is scheduled to make a relief outing with Triple-A Durham on Saturday. Boxberger was an All-Star as Tampa's closer in 2015, but has been sidelined this season after adductor surgery. He has made two one-inning rehab appearances for Single-A Charlotte.
Tigers: RHP Shane Greene, sidelined since April 25 with a blister, pitched three scoreless innings in a rehab start with Low-A West Michigan Friday night. He's expected to make at least one more rehab appearance before rejoining the Tigers.
STOLEN BASE STREAK
Cameron Maybin has stolen a base in each of his four games since returning from the disabled list on Monday. Rajai Davis had a four-game streak in 2014, but Ron LeFlore and Ty Cobb are the only Tigers to reach five since 1913. LeFlore has the modern franchise record with a six-game streak in 1977.
UP NEXT
The teams play the second game of their three-game weekend series Saturday afternoon, with former Tiger Drew Smyly (2-4, 3.44) facing Michael Fulmer (2-1, 6.52). The pair were each part of major trading-deadline moves by Dave Dombrowski, with Smyly going to Tampa Bay in a 2014 trade for David Price, while Fulmer came from the Mets last season in exchange for Yoenis Cespedes.
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