David Ortiz homered and Rick Porcello returned to Comerica Park with seven strong innings as the Boston Red Sox routed the Detroit Tigers, 10-2, on Friday night. Finally, when Dave Dombrowski decided the Tigers needed more offense for the 2015 season, he traded Porcello to the Red Sox for Cespedes. His only major mistake was J.D. Martinez’s two-run homer in the second inning.
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The former first-round draft pick, acquired by the Tigers in a trade-deadline deal with the New York Mets last season, recovered after the first inning, but ran into trouble again in the sixth, when four consecutive two-out singles ended his night. Pedroia did score to make it 1-0, but after a Ramirez walk, Jackie Bradley Jr. grounded out and the potential big inning was wasted.
It’s never ideal to play through one rain delay, but the Red Sox and Tigers were lucky enough to get two totaling about two and a half hours.
“I’ve faced them before and we won that game so I was just looking to do the same thing and try to repeat”.
James McCann and J.D. Martinez homered for the Tigers, who have lost 10 of 13. Fulmer (10-4) allowed 10 hits, including two homers, and walked one while striking out one. Another single and home run gave the Red Sox an early 4-0 lead. Ortiz continues his historic final season, as he also tied Williams with the most homers in a 40-plus final season with 29 dingers.
“He obviously just left a couple pitches up in the first inning that Ortiz and Bradley got a hold of”, Ausmus said. They’ve seen him attack hitters with the tenacity of a battle-tested veteran, evolving and adapting so rapidly it’s hard to believe he’s just 23 years old.
“Once again, he’s the difference in this one offensively”, manager John Farrell said of Ortiz.
Ortiz also singled in the first on a night when the Tigers honored him with a framed picture of his appearance in the 2005 All-Star game in Detroit. “I feel it’s still a little bit tight”, Rodriguez said.
Had this offense been given ample rest before Thursday’s game, there’s no question they could’ve had similar production to the 10-run onslaught on Friday night.
“It is a roller coaster”, Tigers manager Brad Ausmus said.
“Every time I threw a fastball in tonight, they were ready for it”, he said. It’s just not a pitch you can throw to Papi, and expect anything other than what Norris got: a towering shot deep into the stands in right field, good for a 3-1 lead. “He tried to be a different type of pitcher, probably tried to live up to the dollars that were spent on him rather than just settle in and be the type of guy he had been in his career and build on that”. In the 7th inning Hanley Ramirez hit a 2 run RBI double to have the Sox leading 8-2.
NOTES: The Red Sox announced after the game that left-hander Henry Owens will be called up from Triple-A Pawtucket to start Sunday’s game. He would then progress to a simulated game before reporting to the minors for rehab games. With an off day Monday, the Tigers can afford to push him back until next Saturday before they would require an additional starter.
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Boston Red Sox’s Xander Bogaerts breaks his bat hitting a fly ball for an out during the seventh inning of a baseball game against the Detroit Tigers, Saturday, Aug. 20, 2016, in Detroit. Norris is 0-1 with a 12.27 ERA in two career outings against Boston, one of which was a start.
