The Detroit Tigers (60-49) beat the New York Mets (56-53) 4-3 in the opener of their three-game series.
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Aug 2, 2016; Detroit, MI, USA; Detroit Tigers second baseman Ian Kinsler (3) in the field against the Chicago White Sox at Comerica Park.
Detroit Tigers’ Victor Martinez celebrates after hitting a two-run home run against the New York Mets during the fourth inning of an interleague baseball game Friday, Aug. 5, 2016, in Detroit.
Victor Martinez homered and Detroit ace Justin Verlander limited NY to four hits in six innings to help the Tigers beat the Mets 4-3 on Friday night for their ninth victory in their last 10 games.
Injuries are part of the game, but for the Detroit Tigers and New York Mets, they seem to be an everyday part.
NY trailed 6-1 before rallying with two runs each in the fifth and seventh, and with men on first and second and two out in the ninth, Travis d’Arnaud poked a single into right field.
Syndergaard has tossed 344 pitches over his last three starts and hasn’t gotten into the seventh inning in any of those outings.
“It’s certainly hard to understand why we’re going like that”. Coming off a 3-1 loss in San Francisco on Sunday, Gonzalez (7-9) struck out seven, walked one and had five three-up, three-down innings.
Bruce said. “They called me out”. He allowed a one-out single to pinch hitter James Loney but then got Granderson to ground into a 3-unassisted double play. He has started 11 times against NY in his career with a 4-5 record and 4.45 ERA. This ended up being a win for the Tigers at 4-2. “Nothing out of the ordinary for him”, Verlander said of Kinsler. “We’re all aware of where we are at right now, but we also know it is going to come down to how we finish”. The Mets responded in the top of the fourth inning when Kelly Johnson homered for the second straight night.
“That might be one of those plays where you might as well take the chance and see what happens and all they can do is not overrule or let it stand, that’s the worst-case scenario”, Collins said. “Verlander’s one of those guys that can get himself out of just about any jam, so you have to get him fast”.
The Tigers took advantage of the scouting reports on Syndergaard’s inability to hold runners on early. Opposing base stealers have been successful 32 of 36 times this season against the right-hander, and 47 of 52 times in his brief career.
“It’s a little bit of new school versus old school”, Tigers manager Brad Ausmus said. NY opened the second with two singles but Verlander struck out the next two and, after a passed ball, got the third out on an easy fly to right.
Detroit-While much of the attention paid to the New York Mets concerns the team’s struggles on offense, there is a bigger problem starting to emerge.
Jay Bruce gets thrown out at home to end the game.
Jarrad Saltalamacchia followed with a one-out RBI single to make it, 2-1.
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“After we got the lead, I went out to the mound telling myself that, no matter what, I couldn’t blow it”, Syndergaard said. “That’s like trying to tell someone not to think about a pink elephant. I didn’t think about it”. Cespedes was popular with Tigers fans.
