With American League ERA leader Michael Fulmer on the mound at Comerica Park on Friday, the Red Sox struck for a pair of two-run bombs in the first inning off the bats of David Ortiz and Jackie Bradley Jr.
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Brad Ziegler walked Andrew Romine with the bases loaded to cap a three-run eighth inning for Detroit, and the Tigers held on for a 4-3 win Thursday, snapping Boston’s six-game winning streak. It was a strategy that worked for Fulmer against the Red Sox and their ageless slugger back in July, but this time they were prepared for it.
After a come from behind victory yesterday afternoon, the Tigers turned to rookie sensation Michael Fulmer to try and string together a couple of key wins. “Unfortunately, there was a man on when he hit it in the first inning”, Ausmus said.
Pomeranz got his first win for Boston in his last start, allowing two runs on five hits at Cleveland over 7 2/3 innings. Porcello returned to Comerica Park and handled the Tigers convincingly, while Fulmer suffered one of his worst outings of the year. “But like we’ve said all along, and I’ve told this to people about it – that’s the way it is”. “It’s hard to play with one team for a long time”. “I think that’s what he’s doing this year”. “He had a little bit more power than in recent starts and he was able to use that effectively”. “We came here past year”.
Much to his credit, Fulmer settled down after the Bradley Jr. home run and retired the next eight hitters he faced. Ortiz blasted it very deep to right, and gave the Red Sox the 2-0 lead.
He did it again, which is why he cemented his status as the pitcher the Red Sox can rely upon most. But the Red Sox connected on four consecutive two-out singles in the sixth to chase him from the game. His only major mistake was J.D. Martinez’s two-run homer in the second inning.
Martinez’s two-run homer in the second was to right field.
“I thought we brought great energy considering the circumstances coming into this ballgame”, Farrell said.
Porcello has already made just as dramatic a turnaround, going from “What were they thinking?” to “Where would they be without him?” in the space of a year. “It kept the momentum on our side”.
“They are a fastball-hitting team, and they were ready for my fastball”, Fulmer said. They sit seven games behind the first-place Indians in the AL Central and are 3 1/2 games behind the Orioles for the second wild card spot. I just tried to maybe repeat [that].
“Playing eight, nine years here, it made me proud, because you don’t see that too often right now because all the trades, the situation around baseball”, Cabrera said.
“They just got on the board early in the first”.
“Ultimately, their guy was just better tonight”. He hasn’t played since August 3.
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Red Sox: LHP Eduardo Rodriguez (hamstring) threw in the bullpen Friday and remains on pace to start Sunday’s series finale. The under is 6-2 in Detroit’s last 8 Saturday games and the Tigers are 3-8 in their last 11 overall while going 3-8 in their last 11 games on grass.
