The Detroit Tigers had a chance to reach a .500 record for the first time in months, but fell short against the Cleveland Guardians in the second of a three-game series at Comerica Park.
The Guardians got to Tigers left-handed starter Framber Valdez and limited Detroit's offense in the middle innings of a 6-4 Tigers loss on Wednesday, Aug. 12.
The Tigers (59-61) answered Cleveland's two-run first inning with three straight runs to jump ahead, but the bats went quiet until too late while the Guardians surged ahead with a pair of two-run innings.
Jo Adell hit the decisive two-run home run off Tigers left-handed starter Framber Valdez in the fifth inning. The Guardians (59-62) added two insurance runs with three hits off relievers Ty Madden and Emmanuel
De Jesus in the seventh.
The Tigers pulled one run back with Kevin McGonigle scoring on a wild pitch with two outs in the eighth, but Guardians closer Cade Smith struck out center fielder Max Clark in a 12-pitch battle to end the threat. Detroit had two singles in the ninth, but Smith struck out Dillon Dingler and got McGonigle to ground out.
Valdez picked up the loss. He allowed four runs on six hits and five walks in 5⅔ innings. Valdez falls to 7-8 with a 4.26 ERA.
The Tigers had a chance and failed to reach a .500 record for the first time since they were 18-18 on May 4. Detroit is tied once again with the Minnesota Twins in the standings, 2½ games behind the Chicago White Sox in the AL Central and one game behind the Texas Rangers in the wild-card race. Both Chicago and Texas have games remaining on Wednesday night.
On the mound: Valdez struggles with command
Valdez threw just 64 strikes in 102 pitches and issued five walks. Valdez has now allowed 19 earned runs in the first innings of his starts this season, which spans 23⅔ innings.
It started right away by issuing a free pass to leadoff hitter Steven Kwan in the game's first at-bat. Chase DeLauter reached on a single and José Ramírez got hit by a pitch to load the bases. Adell drove in one run on a double-play ground ball, followed by an Angel Martínez RBI single.
The other inning he ran into issues also started with a walk. Valdez walked Ramírez to lead off the fifth, and Adell powered the Guardians back into the lead with a two-run home run. Valdez walked two of the first three batters in the sixth inning before being pulled.
Ty Madden escaped the jam to get out of the sixth. After giving up a double, Madden was pulled in favor of left-hander Emmanuel De Jesus in the seventh. Fresh off his return from the paternity list, De Jesus gave up consecutive hits to Angel Genao and Austin Hedges, pushing the Guardians' lead to three runs.
The Guardians had at least one runner reach base in all nine innings.
At the plate: Torkelson delivers early
The Tigers immediately climbed out of the early deficit with a two-run first inning to match Cleveland. Dingler reached on a Ramírez error, and Hao-Yu Lee doubled to put two runners in scoring position.
With two outs, first baseman Spencer Torkelson drove a ball the opposite way into the right-center field gap to tie it at 2. Entering Wednesday's game, Torkelson was batting .391 (18-of-46) with eight RBIs over the Tigers' last 11 games.
The Tigers picked up their only lead of the game in the fourth inning. Designated hitter Gleyber Torres turned on a sweeper at the bottom of the zone for a no-doubt solo home run, putting the Tigers ahead, 3-2. That lead lasted until the fifth inning.
After the fourth inning, the Tigers had no hits until Zach McKinstry hit a single with two outs in the eighth inning.
Up Next
The series finale between the Tigers and Guardians is scheduled for 1:10 p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 13 (Detroit SportsNet/WXYT 97.1 FM). Tigers right-handed starter Keider Montero (8-7, 3.38 ERA) is scheduled to face Guardians left-hander Parker Messick (9-6, 2.57 ERA).
ContactJared Ramsey at jramsey@freepress.com.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Tigers lose 6-4 to Guardians to even critical division series
