Detroit Tigers designated hitter Jahmai Jones put a charge into an elevated fastball from Milwaukee Brewers left-hander Kyle Harrison in the third inning, driving a ball to left field.
The play ended up with the ball in the glove of left fielder Blake Perkins, who reached over the fence to rob Jones of a home run – a key moment early on in a game that turned lopsided.
The Tigers lost, 12-4, to the Brewers on Tuesday, April 21, in the first of three games in the series at Comerica Park, with the Brewers scoring seven runs in the eighth inning.
Catcher Jake Rogers pitched for the Tigers in the ninth inning. He struck out Joey Ortiz with a knuckleball for the first strikeout of his MLB career, spanning 5⅔ innings.
The Tigers (12-12) and Brewers (13-9) meet again Wednesday (6:40 p.m., Detroit SportsNet). The Tigers have won eight of their past 11 games, but within that stretch, they’ve dropped three of their past five games.
In Tuesday’s game, the pesky Brewers – known for manufacturing runs by applying consistent pressure – scored three runs against right-hander Keider Montero in the second inning.
It happened without an extra-base hit.
And none of the four singles reached 100 mph in exit velocity.
There was an infield single from Garrett Mitchell, followed by a walk from Luis Rengifo and an RBI single from Sal Frolic for a 1-0 lead. After David Hamilton’s bunt single, Brice Turang stepped to the plate with the bases loaded and cashed in, delivering a two-RBI single for a 3-0 lead.
Turang broke his bat on the swing.
But he dropped the ball into right field.
That single extended Turang’s on-base streak to 21 games.
The Brewers tacked on two more runs in the seventh inning with additional organized chaos against left-handed reliever Enmanuel De Jesus.
Just like before, it happened without an extra-base hit.
With two outs, a single from Hamilton and a walk from Perkins put De Jesus in a high-stress situation. With Hamilton dancing on the bases, De Jesus turned in an attempt to pick him off between second and third. He ran at Hamilton, then decided to throw to shortstop Kevin McGonigle.
The ball sailed into center field.
The throwing error from De Jesus put runners on the corners for Turang, who delivered again. This time, he smacked an RBI single into left field for a 4-1 lead. After that, William Contreras hammered the ball into left field for an RBI single, making it 5-1.
Montero allowed three runs on five hits and one walk with three strikeouts across 5⅔ innings, throwing 88 pitches. He owns a 3.68 ERA over 22 innings in four starts.
Meanwhile, the Tigers put a runner in scoring position in each of the first four innings.
Only one run scored.
In the first, Gleyber Torres was stranded at second when McGonigle lined out and Matt Vierling flew out. In the second, Riley Greene was stranded at second when Hao-Yu Lee struck out and Javier Báez flew out. In the third, McGonigle was stranded at second when Dillon Dingler struck out.
Finally, the Tigers scored in the fourth inning.
The bases were loaded after Greene walked, Spencer Torkelson walked and Lee singled, forcing a pitching change from Harrison to right-handed reliever Grant Anderson.
Báez immediately grounded into a double play, but putting the ball in play was enough to score Greene from third base, trimming the Tigers’ deficit to 3-1.
Kerry Carpenter pinch-hit for Jones with Torkelson on third in hopes of a big swing.
He struck out swinging to end the fourth.
The Tigers finished 3-for-12 with runners in scoring position, while the Brewers went 10-for-16 in those situations.
The Brewers extended their lead to 6-1 with back-to-back triples from Gary Sánchez and Mitchell off De Jesus in the eighth inning. Those were two of three extra-base hits among their 14 hits throughout Tuesday’s game.
An RBI single from Rengifo made it 7-1 in the eighth.
The Brewers didn’t stop there.
Facing right-handed reliever Connor Seabold, the Brewers increased their lead to 8-1 on a Perkins hit-by-pitch, 9-1 on a Turang sacrifice fly, 10-1 on Contreras’ single, 11-1 on Jake Bauers’ double and 12-1 on Sánchez’s groundout.
De Jesus surrendered seven runs (five earned runs) on seven hits and two walks with one strikeout across 1⅓ innings, failing to record an out in the eighth. Seabold gave up two runs, but he got all three outs in the eighth.
For De Jesus, it’s a 10.13 ERA over eight innings in six games.
An RBI single from McGonigle off right-handed reliever Jake Woodford made it 12-2 with two outs in the ninth inning, then Vierling made it 12-4 with a two-RBI double.
Those runs did not make a difference.
Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him @EvanPetzold.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Tigers embarrassed by Brewers in 12-4 loss; Jake Rogers throws 1st strikeout
Reporting by Evan Petzold, Detroit Free Press / Detroit Free Press
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