DETROIT, Michigan -- Rich Hill, a former player at the University of Michigan, dominated the Motor City with seven scoreless innings to lead the Oakland Athletics to a 5-1 victory over the Detroit Tigers at Comerica Park

Justin Upton made a catch in left field during the third inning to rob Chris Coghlan, the third baseman for the Athletics, of a home run. The ball hit off the glove of Upton, but the outfielder was able to regain his hand-eye coordination to make the catch. 

The game was an even battle until the Athletics (11-10) broke the game open in the top of the fourth inning for a 3-0 lead. Jed Lowrie drove in Josh Reddick on a single to left field, Coco Crisp hit a sacrifice fly to left field to score Lowrie and the third single to left field, this time by Khris Davis, allowed Stephen Vogt to cross home plate.

Reddick went 3-for-4 with one run scored in the win over the Tigers. It was his fourth straight multi-hit game of the season. Ian Kinsler, Miguel Cabrera, Victor Martinez and Anthony Gose combined for six hits in the contest.

In the top of the fifth inning, Marcus Semien hit his fifth home run of the season off starting right-handed pitcher Mike Pelfrey to score Yonder Alonso and give the Athletics a 5-0 lead over the Tigers. 

"He's really unpredictable in what he's throwing," the Oakland manager said after Hill shut down the Tigers. "Sometimes even the pitches that he throws back to back are a little bit different in how they move."

Pelfrey (0-4, 4.64 ERA) started off on the right foot, but struggled down the stretch for his fourth loss of the season. The 32-year-old right-hander gave up five runs on nine hits across 6.2 innings. Pefrey only struck out one batter, but he did not allow any free passes to the Athletics. 

Detroit has not given Pelfrey a single run of support this season across 21.1 innings. 

"It doesn't matter if we are scoring 20 runs when I pitch or zero," Pelfrey said. "My job is to get outs and put zeroes on the board, and in four starts this year, I haven't done that."

As for Rich Hill (3-2, 2.42 ERA), the left-handed starter for Oakland, he was dominant across 7.0 scoreless innings of baseball. The 36-year-old gave up just four hits with eight strikeouts. Sean Doolittle replaced Hill and threw a perfect inning of baseball, including two strikeouts. 

The Tigers (9-10) finally got on the scoreboard in the bottom of the ninth. After Kinsler singled to lead off the inning, Victor Martinez doubled off John Axford to score the speedy second baseman. 

Axford managed to regroup and finish the inning to complete the 5-1 victory for the Athletics over the Tigers on Tuesday night. 

"It's a great lineup," Hill said. "We kept the ball down in the zone. We got ahead -- I think that was a big thing, just getting ahead and staying ahead."

Up Next

Game 3 of the four-game series will fashion Sonny Gray (3-1, 2.73 ERA) toeing the slab for Oakland. The Tigers of Detroit will counter with Justin Verlander (1-2, 5.79 ERA) at Comerica Park on Wednesday. 

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About the author
Evan Petzold
Evan Petzold is a Detroit-based journalist with expertise in covering the Tigers, Pistons, and Red Wings. A member of the Internet Baseball Writers Association of America (IBWAA) and Detroit Sports Broadcasters Association (DBSA), he brings a unique skill set in reporting and broadcasting to the table.