Detroit @ Boston preview
Fenway Park
Last Meeting ( Jul 31, 2010 ) Detroit 4, Boston 5
During the Detroit Tigers’ recent road trip to Tampa Bay, Rays’ manager Joe Maddon employed a unique and unconventional strategy. It worked like a charm every game and the Rays went on to sweep the series.
On Saturday, Tigers manager Jim Leyland stared conventional baseball wisdom in the face and it backfired as Detroit lost a 5-4 decision to the Boston Red Sox.
Leyland and the visiting Tigers meet the Red Sox again Sunday at Fenway Park in the final game of a three-game series.
Boston rallied from a 4-0 deficit to defeat the Tigers on Saturday. The Red Sox capped the rally with three runs in the ninth under wild circumstances.
With closer Jose Valverde unavailable after throwing 61 pitches in Friday night’s game, Leyland called on Phil Coke to try to get the final three outs on Saturday. After a single by Darnell McDonald, Coke entered the game and got Marco Scutaro to fly out to the left field wall. Jed Lowrie followed with a double before Leyland set the wheels in motion.
Leyland had Coke intentionally walk Kevin Youkilis - putting the potential winning run on base - to face David Ortiz.
Although Ortiz hit a grand slam in Friday’s series opener, he had struck out nine times in his last three games, including fanning with the bases loaded and two outs in the seventh inning Saturday. But this time Ortiz came through, belting a shot to the wall in left-center field to score all three runs and give the Red Sox the walk-off victory.
Perhaps Leyland was taking a page out of Maddon’s book. In each of the final three games of the Tigers-Rays series during the week, Maddon elected to walk Miguel Cabrera intentionally with two outs and runners on first and second base in the seventh inning. All three times the Rays retired the following batter, Brennan Boesch, and the Rays went on to win.
Leyland had no such luck on Saturday. He hopes ace Justin Verlander can capture today’s rubber game of the three-game series. Detroit has lost 11 of its last 12 games on the road.
Verlander (12-6) is 2-2 lifetime against the Red Sox. He’s won seven of his last nine decisions.
Clay Buchholz starts for the Red Sox, who are gunning for their fifth win in their last six games. Buchholz was sharp in his last outing, his second since coming off the disabled list. He allowed one run in seven innings in Boston’s 5-1 win over the Los Angeles Angels.
Buchholz is 1-1 lifetime against the Tigers. He beat them 7-2 earlier in the year.
The Red Sox were quiet for the most part as Saturday’s trading deadline passed. Boston acquired catcher Jared Saltalamacchia from the Texas Rangers and sent him to its Triple-A affiliate. The Red Sox traded away reliever Ramon Ramirez and designated outfielder Jeremy Hermida for assignment. Both had struggled on the season.
General manager Theo Epstein said the price for the relief help they coveted was too steep.