As third baseman Pablo Sandoval rolled a grounder to Detroit Tigers second baseman Ian Kinsler with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning, any sense of optimism still lingering in the bowels of Fenway Park from Friday's Boston Red Sox victory quickly evaporated as the white-and-red sulked their way into the clubhouse having lost, 5-1.
Losers of nine of their last 10 contests, Boston fell behind immediately on Saturday afternoon, never able to recover as Detroit starter Alfredo Simon (W, 9-6) pitched six innings of dominant ball, yielding just five hits and one run while striking out four.
Third baseman Nick Castellanos went 2-for-4 with a home run (video) and three RBI's, and right fielder J.D. Martinez went 2-for-3 with two runs for the Tigers, who roughed up Red Sox starter Steven Wright (L, 3-4) for four runs (two earned) on five hits in just 4.1 innings.
Boston recorded just six hits on the day, unable to sustain any offensive presence. Left fielder Hanley Ramirez was the only Red Sox batter to garner a multi-hit performance, going 2-for-4.
The Tigers jumped out to a 1-0 advantage almost instantly in the first inning. After Wright retired the first two batters, former Red Sox left fielder Yoenis Cespedes hammered his 15th home run of the season to left center, setting the tone for the afternoon.
Detroit extended the lead to 2-0 in the second inning as Martinez worked a walk to begin the stanza and advanced to second on a one-out passed ball by Boston catcher Blake Swihart. The rookie backstop proceeded to make another error, letting a ball pass through on a swing-and-miss by first baseman Alex Avila, allowing Martinez to move to third. An RBI fielder's choice by catcher James McCann then scored Martinez, the deciding run of the game.
The Tigers mercilessly pushed the advantage to 4-0 in the top of the fourth inning, as designated hitter Victor Martinez, another former Red Sox, reached on an infield single and J.D. Martinez singled to left to set the tone. The two then advanced to scoring position on a third passed ball by Swihart. A two-RBI ground rule double by Castellanos then scored them both.
Boston was able to record a run in the bottom of the fifth inning, however, staving off a possible shutout. Swihart redeemed himself in a sense with a triple to deep right, and slumping center fielder Mookie Betts then drove him home with an RBI groundout.
Detroit immediately regained a four-run advantage, however, as Castellanos led off the top of the sixth inning with a solo shot over the Green Monster off of Red Sox reliever Noe Ramirez, pushing the score to a final of 5-1.