Athletics 6, Tigers 5: Late night heartbreak

The Detroit Tigers came into play against the Oakland Athletics hoping to continue their good luck from the first game of the series. That did not happen, as the Athletics walked off in the bottom of the ninth with two outs for a final score of 6-5, Oakland.

The Tigers came out swinging and loaded the bases in the top of the first inning against Athletics starting pitcher Jesse Hahn. They left the bases loaded but forced Hahn to throw 34 pitches due in part to Alex Avila’s eight pitch at-bat that ended the inning with a groundout. In the top of the second inning, Andrew Romine hit a triple to deep right-center field that drove in two runs. Nicholas Castellanos drove in Romine with a single to left field on the following pitch.

Oakland’s first run off Tigers starter Jordan Zimmermann came on a home run by third baseman Ryon Healy in the bottom of the second. This is especially significant because Healy made a defensive error in each of the first two innings.

Hahn left the game after throwing 101 pitches in 3 ²⁄₃ innings, when the Tigers had the bases loaded again in the top of the fourth. A third earned run was charged to Hahn when Daniel Coulombe walked Avila with the bases still loaded to force in a run. The Athletics got a run back in the bottom of the inning when Yonder Alonso hit a solo home run to right center field, but Zimmermann escaped with no further damage.

The trend did not continue, however, as Zimmermann gave up a second home run to Alonso, this one of the two-run variety, before leaving the game for Blaine Hardy with two outs in the bottom of the sixth. Hardy promptly stuck out Chad Pinder swinging to end the inning.

The bullpen had a quiet evening for the most part — Hardy, Alex Wilson, and Justin Wilson came in and did their jobs, retiring all eight batters they faced. The ninth inning, on the other hand... was slightly more exciting. Francisco Rodriguez came in and got two quick outs, then walked Bruce Maxwell and surrendered a double to former Tiger Matt Joyce. Adam Rosales hit a single to left field that drove in both Maxwell and Joyce to give Oakland the win.

ROARS:

Andrew Romine had a triple, a walk, two runs and two RBIs.

Nicholas Castellanos had two hits (one double) and two RBIs.

Tigers bullpen sent down the first 10 batters they faced in a row, striking out four.

HISSES:

Jordan Zimmermann gave up three home runs, four earned runs. five hits, and walked one while striking out four.

Francisco Rodriguez: Clearly.

STATS AND INFO:

• Justin Upton has walked 17 times this season, and he didn’t walk for the 17th time last season until June 13.
• The Tigers struck out 14 times, marking the 10th time they had double-digit strikeouts this season and the third game in a row.