Tyler Collins and Justin Upton each hit a three-run homer to lead the Detroit Tigers to their fourth straight win, beating the Houston Astros 14-6 Friday night.
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Mike Pelfrey – He pitched five scoreless innings before the Tigers chose to give the bullpen some work before an off day. Detroit is the hottest team in the American League at the moment with three one-run wins in the last five contests, including a 3-2, walk-off win on Saturday. He walked three and fanned four. Boyd is 2-0 in his last three starts after going 0-2 in his first six.
Added to the accomplishment, Bregman got to skip into first base and get a big hug from future Hall of Famer Miguel Cabrera. Justin Verlander (11-6) entered the ninth with a two-hit shutout plus a 1-0 lead, pitching hitless ball for 7 1/3 innings. The ball was thrown into the Houston dugout and the coach who caught it pulled off the old “throw the rookie’s hit to a fan” trick.
The Houston Astros are a little pinched in the outfield and on the bench until center fielder Carlos Gomez gets back into action. Bregman has been getting bad results from good swings and Hinch feels a new look might help him. “I get it.”… The Tigers’ rotation is unsettled, but manager Brad Ausmus said RHP Anibal Sanchez will start Tuesday against the Chicago White Sox and rookie RHP Michael Fulmer will go Wednesday.
Houston Astros catcher Jason Castro, left, watches Detroit Tigers’ Mike Aviles run home from third to score during the sixth inning Sunday, July 31, 2016, in Detroit. Tyler Collins singled and McCann drove Upton home with another single.
A couple tough-luck plays kind of extended that inning, and then I elevated a pitch to McCann, Keuchel said.
Astros starting pitcher Doug Fister isn’t with the team this weekend, as his wife is expected to give birth to the couple’s first child.
Houston challenged the call but it took barely 30 seconds to confirm Iglesias beat the play for a single that scored Collins with the winning run.
I believe in playing the game the right way, so I took second to let them know that I knew what was going, he said.
Boyd struck out George Springer to start the game, but Marwin Gonzalez doubled and Altuve lined his 18th homer into the right-field stands. “If I made a good pitch, they got a bat on it, and if I missed my spot at all, they hit it hard”.
The Tigers threatened in the second, putting runners on first and second with no one out, but Altuve fielded Upton’s grounder, stepped on second and threw to third in time to retire Victor Martinez. That saved a run when Collins followed with a single, and Fiers got out of the inning.
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In the meantime, Verlander allowed two hits in the first inning but didn’t allow another baserunner until he walked Altuve to start the seventh. Maybin, who was running hard with two outs, slid just past a tag at home after starting at first. “It’s late July. I think a lot of teams are beat up a little bit.”…
