Detroit — One way for the Tigers to stay afloat amid all these injuries they have would be to play sound defense.
That would certainly help the pitching, and make the offense’s task a bit easier.
But the Tigers’ defense hardly helped the cause Wednesday, a key reason the Boston Red Sox completed the three-game series sweep with a 4-0 victory.
Tigers’ starting pitcher Jack Flaherty (0-3) was tagged with the loss, but didn’t get help behind him. Flaherty struck out 10 — the first five hitters he faced, and five of the last six — and four runs, only two of which were earned.
The gut-punch was third baseman Colt Keith’s error with two out and two on in the fourth inning. Carlos Narvaez’s grounder got through Keith, and scored Masataka Yoshida (singled) and Ceddanne Rafaela (walked), giving the Red Sox (16-21) a 4-0 lead.
Keith’s deflecting Marcelo Mayer’s grounder in the third, led to an infield single to lead off the inning. After Narvaez was hit by a pitch, Spencer Torkelson dropped a foul pop-up giving Caleb Durbin new life. Durbin followed with a double, scoring Mayer. Narvaez would later score on a Wilson Contreras sacrifice fly.
BOX SCORE: Red Sox 4, Tigers 0
Both teams had four hits in the game. Boston’s Sonny Gray (3-1) allowed three hits, no runs, walked two and struck out two over five innings to earn the victory.
The Tigers (18-20) were without manager AJ Hinch, who received a one-game suspension after Framber Valdez intentionally threw at Boston’s Trevor Story in Tuesday’s game, resulting Wednesday in Valdez earning a five-game suspension. It’s a common occurrence for managers to receive a one-game suspension, and Hinch served it Wednesday.
Bench coach George Lombard managed the Tigers Wednesday against Boston.
Valdez’s suspension was reduced from six to five games after he dropped an appeal. Valdez will not make his next scheduled start Sunday in Kansas City.
tkulfan@detroitnews.com
@tkulfan
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Tigers swept by Red Sox; Flaherty strikes out 10
Reporting by Ted Kulfan, The Detroit News / The Detroit News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
