Caminero got out the first two batter but then the wheels completely came off. A double, a walk and a Nick Castellanos single later, the bases were loaded for catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia and he made Caminero pay when he blasted a grand slam home run to deep right field, putting the Tigers up 5-2.
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The Pirates narrowed the gap in the eighth when Andrew McCutchen snapped an 0-for-8 skid with an RBI double off the wall, but they fell even further behind when the Tigers tallied two ninth-inning runs against Cory Luebke. The 33-year-old exited after yielding three runs and three hits over six frames, striking out five and walking two.
“I placed some money on five thinking that five was the lucky number, catching five balls”, Dugan, 39, told ABC News.
In the bottom of the fifth inning, the Tigers got some life off the bat of J.D. He gave all five away to young fans in attendance. The Pirates (5-3) have lost three of their last four games.
With a 7-4 lead over the Tigers, Neftali Feliz, Tony Watson and Mark Melancon, who picked up his third save of the season, shut the door to register the victory for the Pirates. “I actually have six today, but I got one of them in batting practice”.
Ian Kinsler hit a solo home run, his third, and drove in two runs for the Tigers (5-2), while J.D. Martinez and Anthony Gose each had two of Detroit’s 10 hits. Zimmermann hasn’t fared well in a pair of career starts versus Pittsburgh, permitting four runs in each outing while allowing four homers in 12 total innings.
With Sanchez taking control of the Pirates batters, the Tigers were busy doing the same thing Pittsburgh had done to Justin Verlander on Monday.
McCann threw out Joyce and Polanco trying to steal.
Bill Dugan of Roseville, Mich., shows that he caught five foul balls during the Detroit Tigerss Pittsburgh Pirates at Comerica Park in Detroit on Monday, April 11, 2016.
Pirates: C Elias Diaz is resting his throwing arm and hopes to return to action in the next couple of weeks. He pitched 2 1/3 scoreless innings of relief. Martinez. The right-handed slugger cranked his first home run of the season on a fly ball to left field. Diaz, who won’t need surgery for his sore elbow, is expected to start his season in Triple-A.
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Story, the Colorado Rockies rookie shortstop who belted an MLB-record seven home runs in his first six games, went 0-for-4 Tuesday night in Denver. He began the season on the 15-day disabled list after being injured late in spring training. The Pirates have won four straight at Comerica Park, about a mile from the site of Bennett Park, where Pittsburgh won the 1909 World Series.
