DETROIT — Tigers rookie Casey Mize was pulling himself out of trouble inning after inning Wednesday night. Tough way to do it against a team as patient and potent as the Red Sox — and they ultimately made him pay, riding three home runs to a 4-1 win at Comerica Park.
Mize was mostly unscathed through four innings. The one blemish, he left a 2-1 two-seam fastball (93 mph) out over the plate to former Tiger J.D. Martinez leading off the second inning. The result was familiar. He drove it 401 feet over the wall in right-center. The ball left his bat with an exit velocity of 109 mph.
According to Baseball Reference, it was Martinez’s 59th career home run to right-center field.
Mize had escaped a first-and-third, one-out jam in the first, getting Rafael Devers to hit into a 6-3 double-play, a strong play by shortstop Zack Short. In the third, with a little heads-up yell from catcher Grayson Greiner, he stepped off the mound and threw out Christian Vazquez trying to steal second.
He pitched around a leadoff double by Xander Bogaerts in the fourth and looked like he was about to repeat the feat in the fifth. He didn’t.
Hunter Renfroe led off with a double and was still there with two outs. Mize got two fast strikes on Enrique Hernandez and then let him back in the count, missing with three straight pitches. The 3-2 pitch was a slider over the plate and Hernandez mashed it, 426 feet over the bullpens in left.
Next hitter, rookie Jarren Duran followed that up by hitting a two-seamer into the Tigers’ bullpen in left.
After going 13 straight starts allowing three runs or fewer, Mize has allowed four in two of his last three. It was his third three-homer game, the first since June 3.
The Tigers hitters were struggling to put balls in play off Red Sox lefty Eduardo Rodriguez, let alone score runs. After they struck out 13 times Tuesday night, Tigers hitters punched out 10 times in five innings against Rodriguez, and 18 times for the game.
Six of the strikeouts were on called third strikes.
The Tigers also walked six times in the game.
The craziest inning was the fifth. They worked Rodriguez for 29 pitches, had two base runners and didn’t put a ball in play. Two walks and three strikeouts.
This game, a three-true-outcomes special, was not a model for increased action in baseball. The teams combined for four home runs, eight walks and 26 strikeouts.
The Tigers got on the board in the seventh, on Jonathan Schoop's 18th homer of the season, a 406-foot, solo blast to left field.
Miguel Cabrera remains at 498 career home runs, but he did move the hit counter. His single in the sixth off reliever Hirokazu Sawamura was hit No. 2,945.
With Derek Holland, Buck Farmer and Joe Jimenez combining to throw four shutout innings, the Tigers' bullpen ran its scoreless innings streak to 21.
