9-RUN OPENING FRAME KEYS TIGERS ROUT
1st 10 Detroit Hitters Reach Base
DETROIT, Aug. 14 (AP) – The Detroit Tigers exploded for nine runs in the bottom of the first inning—the single biggest frame the team has had in any game all year—and went on to throttle the Pittsburgh Pirates 14-2 at Comerica Park. The first 10 Tigers batters all reached base safely, the longest such string to open a game in the major leagues this season. Pirates starter Francisco Liriano was knocked out after throwing 44 pitches and failing to retire a single batter. Torii Hunter had the big hit with a grand slam in the opening inning, the first grand slam of the season for Detroit.
After Tigers starter Max Scherzer held Pittsburgh scoreless in the top of the first, Detroit seized complete control of the game in the bottom half. Rajai Davis drew a lead-off walk from Liriano and promptly stole second. Ian Kinser followed with a single up the middle, scoring Davis to give the Tigers a lead they would never relinquish. Miguel Cabrera walked on four pitches and Victor Martinez reached on an infield single to load the bases. That brought Hunter to the plate and he deposited a 1-1 fastball from Liriano into the left field seats just inside the foul pole. It was now 5-0. But the Tigers didn’t quit there. J.D. Martinez drew the third walk of the inning from Liriano and stole second base. Liriano then issued his fourth free pass of the opening frame, this one to Nick Castellanos, putting runners on first and second. Alex Avila singled, scoring Martinez and advancing Castellanos to second. Eugenio Suarez followed with a double to left-center, plating Castellanos and chasing Avila to third. That was it for Liriano. He was replaced by Stolmy Pimentel who yielded Davis’ second hit of the inning, a two-run single. Pimentel fanned Kinsler, got Cabrera on a ground out and then issued the fifth Pittsburgh free pass of the frame before finally putting an end to the inning by retiring Hunter on an infield pop. All told, the Tigers scored nine times, on six hits and five walks.
The game was effectively over at this point, but the scoring was not. An RBI-single off the bat of Suarez gave the Tigers their 10th run in the bottom of the second.
Scherzer held the Pirates at bay until the seventh when Michael Martinez put Pittsburgh on the board by singling home Starling Martre.
But 10-1 was as close as the Pirates would get. RBI hits by Davis and Kinsler made it 12-1 after seven. And in the bottom of the seventh Victor Martinez led off with a single and was tripled home by Hunter. After J.D. Martinez walked, Castellanos lifted a sacrifice fly to center, giving Detroit a 14-1 lead.
In the top of the ninth, Pittsburgh scored a consolation run when Pedro Alvarez led off with his 14th home run of the season, but it was far too little too late.
Beyond the latest offensive explosion, the Tigers received another encouraging sign in the Scherzer outing. The right-hander had suffered a miserable stretch of appearances, dating back to mid-June. Scherzer tossed a one-hit shutout on June 12 against the White Sox, but in his next nine starts posted a record of 3-5 with a 6.59 ERA. With the Tigers in a dogfight in the American League Central, an effective Scherzer is a must if Detroit is to win the division.
8/14/2014, Pit14-Det14, Comerica Park
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E LOB DP
2014 Pirates 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 2 7 0 7 3
2014 Tigers 9 1 0 0 0 0 2 2 x 14 14 0 7 1
Pirates AB R H BI AVG Tigers AB R H BI AVG
Polanco,G rf 4 0 0 0 .257 Davis,R cf 4 2 2 3 .293
Snider lf 4 0 2 0 .258 Kinsler 2b 4 1 2 2 .296
Harrison,J 3b 4 0 2 0 .352 Romine,An 2b 0 0 0 0 .258
Davis,I 1b 3 0 0 0 .214 Cabrera,Mi 1b 3 1 0 0 .308
Marte,S cf 3 1 1 0 .312 Carrera cf 0 0 0 0 .261
Alvarez,P dh 3 1 1 1 .235 Martinez,V dh 4 2 2 0 .340
Mercer ss 4 0 0 0 .237 Hunter,Tor rf 5 2 2 5 .258
Stewart,C c 4 0 0 0 .299 Kelly,D 1b 0 0 0 0 .303
Martinez,M 2b 3 0 1 1 .114 Martinez,J lf 3 2 1 0 .354
Nix 2b 1 0 0 0 .119 Castellanos 3b 3 1 1 1 .250
33 2 7 2 Avila c 4 1 1 1 .203
Suarez ss 4 2 3 2 .301
34 14 14 14
Pirates INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA
Liriano,F L 6-5 0.0 5 9 9 4 0 44 20 3.53
Pimentel 1.0 4 1 1 2 1 29 19 5.12
Gomez,J 3.2 0 0 0 3 2 45 25 5.67
Cumpton 2.1 5 4 4 1 1 34 22 5.10
Wilson,Ju 1.0 0 0 0 0 1 11 9 2.70
8.0 14 14 14 10 5 163 95
Tigers INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA
Scherzer W 11-9 7.0 5 1 1 3 6 107 64 4.06
Mercedes 2.0 2 1 1 0 1 36 25 4.50
9.0 7 2 2 3 7 143 89
Pit: Nix inserted at 2b in the 7th
Det: Davis,R moved to lf in the 9th
Romine,An inserted at 2b in the 9th
Carrera inserted at cf in the 9th
Kelly,D inserted at 1b in the 9th
Martinez,J moved to rf in the 9th
2B-Marte,S(32), Davis,R(21), Suarez 2(6). 3B-Hunter,Tor(2). HR-Alvarez,P(14),
Hunter,Tor(10). RBI-Alvarez,P(63), Martinez,M(3), Davis,R 3(43),
Kinsler 2(82), Hunter,Tor 5(49), Castellanos(44), Avila(34), Suarez 2(20).
SB-Davis,R(22), Kinsler(13), Martinez,J(5). K-Harrison,J, Davis,I, Alvarez,P,
Mercer 2, Stewart,C, Martinez,M, Kinsler, Cabrera,Mi, Castellanos, Avila 2.
BB-Davis,I, Marte,S, Alvarez,P, Davis,R, Kinsler, Cabrera,Mi 2, Martinez,V,
Martinez,J 2, Castellanos, Avila, Suarez. SF-Castellanos. WP-Scherzer 2.
GWRBI: Kinsler
Temperature: 75, Sky: cloudy, Wind: none.
Attendance: 27,643
Game Time: 3:04