Detroit Tigers 7, Texas Rangers 0: Michael Fulmer threw his first shutout

Oklahoma City native Michael Fulmer threw his first career shutout two hours south in Arlington, Texas, and the Tigers got four home runs en route to a 7-0, series-clinching victory over the Rangers on Sunday.

Fulmer allowed just four hits and no walks while striking out nine. Tigers manager Brad Ausmus will undoubtedly come under some criticism for allowing Fulmer to stay in (the author says having glanced at Twitter only moments earlier) in order to earn the accomplishment. Fulmer finished at a career-high 112 pitches, six more than his previous high.

It looked like the Tigers’ offense was going to continue to struggle to put runs on the board after scoring just two a day earlier. But Victor Martinez opened up scoring with a two-run home run in the fourth inning, and Detroit really began to open things up a few innings later.

James McCann drove in a run with a single in the sixth, then Ian Kinsler led off the seventh with a solo shot of his own, his 22nd home run of the year. A few batters later J.D. Martinez skied his 100th career home run to push the Tigers’ lead to six runs before finally chasing Rangers starter A.J. Griffin.

Griffin finished with a line of six runs allowed on 11 hits and a walk. He struck out eight.

Miguel Cabrera finished the Tigers’ scoring in the ninth with an opposite field home run off Alex Cladio.

ROARS:

Michael Fulmer — Michael Fulmer threw a complete game shutout with nine strikeouts and four hits allowed.

Victor Martinez — Broke open the game with a 325-foot (or so) home run in the fourth.

Ian Kinsler — Got back on track with his first home run since Aug. 4, giving the Tigers a four-run lead at the time.

J.D. Martinez and Miguel Cabrera, too — Home runs all over the dang place.

HISSES:

Gone fishin’

STREAKS AND STATS:

• Michael Fulmer became qualified for the ERA title after his sixth inning of work. At that point his 2.31 ERA led the American League. He finished the game at 2.25.
• This was Fulmer’s first appearance in the ninth inning as a major league starter. He complete eight innings on July 17. He also threw his major league high for pitches with 112.
• It’s Fulmer’s first career shutout (duh).
• Fulmer is the first rookie pitcher to reach 10 wins this season. (We might not care about wins but RoY might!)
• J.D. Martinez’s seventh-inning home run was the 100th of his career.
• The Tigers’ 1 (Kinsler), 3 (Miguel Cabrera), 4 (Victor Martinez) and 5 (JD Martinez) hitters each homered.

WIN PROBABILITY GRAPH