Tigers 4, Red Sox 1: Jordan Zimmermann shines in 1st start of the season

Two home runs and a great start by Jordan Zimmermann was all the Tigers needed to nail down their third win of the season. Backed by a behaving bullpen, Detroit won 4-1 over the Red Sox to take the first two games of the four-game series.

The Red Sox took an early lead in the second on a double and a sacrifice fly, but it was all Tigers after that. Zimmermann was lights-out for his last four innings of work, and the offense came alive in the fifth. Miguel Cabrera may still be 0-for-12 to start the year, but the bottom of the order has been lively, and on Saturday the homers did the talking.

James McCann homered for the second time in as many days, but it was Jose Iglesias’ day at the plate. The Tigers shortstop planted a 433-foot moonshot over the left field visiting bullpen in the third, and then doubled home a run up the right-center field gap in the fifth. JaCoby Jones, who struck out in his first appearance of the day, doubled in the fifth and scored on Iglesias’ hit.

With the bottom of the offense clicking well enough, Zimmermann put forth six solid innings of work. The lone run he allowed came via a sacrifice fly after a leadoff double by Mitch Moreland in the second. He retired the next 10 out of 12 batters and put the middle of the order down 1-2-3 in the sixth, his final inning of the day.

ROARS:

Bottom of the order: Jose Iglesias knocked a monster home run to left in the third inning, tying the game 1-1. He then doubled in the fifth for another run. James McCann hit his own homer in the fifth and walked in the seventh, and JaCoby Jones legged out a double to set up a run on Iglesias’ second hit.

Jordan Zimmermann: Gave up just one run across six innings of work, striking out three and walking one.

HISSES:

Runners on the field: It’s a baseball game, not your chance to be a moron. Go away.

Top of the order: In contrast with the bottom of the order, Ian Kinsler, Nick Castellanos, and Miguel Cabrera were near-silent at the plate. Kinsler had an RBI single in the fifth but got thrown out trying to advance to second. Cabrera had one walk and struck out twice. The three were a combined 1-for-11 with a walk.

STREAKS AND INFO:

• Jose Iglesias’ home run went an estimated 433 feet, according to Statcast. That’s the farthest he’s hit a homer in his career. The next-best distance were two 409-footers on June 28 and July 25, 2016, against the Marlins and Red Sox, respectively.
• Ian Kinsler’s RBI single in the fifth marked the 1,700th of his major league career.
• Bottom of the order: McCann, Jones, and Iglesias were 4-for-7 with two walks on the day and all extra-base hits.
• Cabrera is now 0-for-12 to start the year, further expounding on the below tweet from Mowery.