The next game against the Twins, he gave up two runs and struck out eight in five and a third innings.
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Red Sox utility man Michael Martinez, who faced Pelfrey as a member of AL Central-rival Cleveland, is 3-for-7 (.429) with a home run and four RBIs against him. Greene showed no signs of fatigue, despite pitching a lot lately – “I give him a ton of credit”, Ausmus said – and Rodriguez continues to compile saves as if they are a foregone conclusion.
“There’s never a comfortable spot when you’re a closer, but he’s as savvy a pitcher as [there is], with one of the better changeups I’ve ever come across”, Ausmus said.
In the wild card race, the Tigers face only a four-game deficit, with three teams – Boston, Toronto and Houston – ahead of them. The Red Sox would erase two separate leads of three-plus runs in the game, and Ortiz had his chances to do some more damage before the night was over. In Kelly’s first appearance out of the pen he learned the hard way with hard hits from Tigers OF Justin Upton (Triple) and C James McCann (Single) that resulted in an insurance run in the Tigers victory. Boston is 55-41, but still 1.5 games back of the AL East lead.
Ross was able to record the first two outs of the seventh inning with no issues, but allowed a hit-by-pitch, a single and back-to-back walks to walk in the eventual game-winning run.
The Tigers are 1-4 in their last five games against a left-handed starter, and 5-0 in Fulmer’s last five game threes of a series. Francisco Rodriguez set down the Red Sox in the ninth to record his 29th save.
Iglesias scored his second run of the game in the eighth, trotting across home plate on Martinez’s single off reliever Clay Buchholz to make it 4-1.
Lefty Justin Wilson allowed three straight singles to load the bases with none out in the bottom of the eighth and the Tigers leading, 4-1. A single by Sandy Leon pulled the Red Sox within 4-2, but Wilson settled down to get an out and Rodriguez came on to help end the rally.
“It is frustrating when you put that many runs up on the board and come away on the wrong side of it”, manager John Farrell said.
Boston’s hitters had several long at-bats against Verlander, pushing his pitch count above 40 through just two innings. He retired the next two batters in order, inducing a groundout from Jackie Bradley Jr. and fanning Travis Shaw to end the inning.
Despite the loss, Pomeranz said he feels good about how he’s progressed over his first two starts since the trade. “Just kind of learning how to approach it in a different league and the scouting reports and everything. They hit some pretty good pitches”, Wright said. Former Tigers president/general manager Dave Dombrowski, now the president of baseball operations for the Red Sox, said before the game it didn’t surprise him that Verlander has come back to have a good season after his past injury problems. Red Sox closer and RHP Craig Kimbrel, who underwent knee surgery on July 9, threw his first bullpen session on Monday and could return to the team as soon as this weekend.2. He could make a rehab start as soon as this weekend.
Starter Steven Wright delivered a dud, chased in the fifth inning after surrendering a career-high eight earned runs.
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Pelfrey is 1-1 with a 1.71 ERA in three starts lifetime against the Red Sox, but 0-1 with a 1.93 mark in two starts at Fenway. After giving up eight earned runs in 4 2/3 innings, he dropped to No. 5 or 6.
