Tigers 6, Mets 5: Offense clings to slim win after sloppy 7th nearly sinks Detroit

DETROIT — The Tigers started out with a comfortable 6-1 lead but two runs given up by Matt Boyd and an awful seventh inning all around nearly handed the Mets a win. With only a five-run fourth for run support and a strong bullpen showing (Justin Wilson excluded) the Tigers hung on to a 6-5 win over the Mets on a 9-2 relay from J.D. Martinez to cut down Jay Bruce at home.

It started out well enough, and then the game went to the dumps in a hurry. The Tigers jumped to a 1-0 lead on a Miguel Cabrera double and then tacked on five more in the fourth. They bat around and drove Logan Verrett from the game before the fifth. After four, the Tigers had a comfortable 6-1 lead and Boyd had pitched well to that point.

And then it all fell apart. Nick Castellanos was taken out of the game for what would later be determined a non-displaced fracture in the fifth metacarpal of his left hand. Boyd gave up a home run and an RBI single in the fifth. The sixth tempted fate with Alex Wilson on the mound when he got hit by a comebacker. And in the seventh the Tigers’ lead got whittled down to one run.

Justin Wilson had a bad night on the mound, but he wasn’t the sole party responsible for the two runs that scored in the seventh. Back-to-back singles remained on when Cabrera plunked Neil Walker in the head attempting to throw to second. Mike Aviles (who replaced Castellanos) failed to field a groundout ball and it ricocheted. Two runs scored as a result, and a 6-3 lead became a close 6-5 ballgame.

ROARS:

Tigers offense: Drove in a run in the first and put up a five-spot in the fourth.

Miguel Cabrera: He had a three-RBI night and had two long, loud flyouts to right.

Top of the order: Ian Kinsler, Tyler Collins, and Cabrera combined to hit 6-for-10 with two walks, three extra-base hits, and four RBI.

J.D. Martinez: Had just one hit and a walk on the night, but his brightest moment came in the ninth. He cut down Jay Bruce at home attempting to score on a single by Travis d’Arnaud in a one-run game. With an on-target one-hop relay and a block by Jarrod Saltalamacchia at home, the ballgame ended in a win.

HISSES:

Injuries: Nick Castellanos got hit on the hand and it fractured. Alex Wilson got hit by a comebacker in the sixth but stayed in the game.

The entire seventh inning: If it could have gone wrong, chances are it did. Two errors lead directly to two runs scoring, play was sloppy all around, and Justin Wilson had little command of his pitches.

STATS AND INFO:

• Miguel Cabrera’s two-run single in the fourth gave him 996 RBI with Detroit, and his two hits gives him 463 multi-hit games with the Tigers. That total ties him with Norm Cash for eighth in team history.
• The Tigers kept pace with the Indians by winning the ballgame. Cleveland had beat the Yankees earlier in the day, keeping their lead at two games over Detroit for the time being.

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