Before Monday night, the Detroit Tigers were the lone team in the American League that the Boston Red Sox had not faced all season. Both teams are in playoff contention, as the Tigers entered at 51-48 while Boston entered 55-41. 

In a frustrating game for the Red Sox, the Tigers were victorious in the first matchup of the year, winning 4-2. Justin Verlander picked up his tenth win of the season for the Tigers, while Drew Pomeranz fell to an even 8-8 on the season. 

With the win, the Tigers are now 52-48, four games behind the Toronto Blue Jays for the second wild-card spot in the American League. Boston falls to 55-42, and as a result of the win from the Baltimore Orioles, slide to 2.5 games behind the first place O's. 

Jose Iglesias spoils Drew Pomeranz's solid bounce-back start

The Red Sox made one of the biggest blockbuster trades of the season on July 14th, acquiring Pomeranz from the San Diego Padres in exchange for highly touted prospect Anderson Espinoza. While it was a questionable move at first, Dave Dombrowski and the Red Sox are in full win-now mode, especially due to the fact that David Ortiz is in his last season. 

Pomeranz was named to his first all-star team this season, going 8-7 with a 2.47 ERA as a member of the Padres. 

Well, in his first start against the San Francisco Giants, it did not go so well. After the Giants managed to get just two hits and no runs in the first three innings, they shelled Pomeranz in the fourth inning. Pomeranz failed to record an out in the fourth, as the Giants used two home runs and seven straight baserunners to tag the left-hander for five runs in that inning. Fortunately for Pomeranz, the Red Sox offense showed up that game, something that did not happen often in San Diego. The Red Sox tacked on 11 runs that game, including three home runs from Hanley Ramirez, and won 11-7. 

But tonight, to start the game, Pomeranz looked like his old self. The all-star struck out four batters in the first two innings and kept the Tigers scoreless through the first five innings. The 27-year-old would allow just two hits over that span. 

However, in the sixth inning, the Tigers offense finally made their mark. After Andrew Romine singled to open up the inning, Jose Iglesias came up with one away against his former team and launched a home run over the Green Monster to give the Tigers a 2-1 lead at the time. Miguel Cabrera followed up with a walk, but Pomeranz struck out both Victor Martinez and Nick Castellanos to end the inning and his night. Pomeranz finished six innings, allowing four hits, two runs, two walks, and struck out seven Tigers. 

Jose Iglesias watches as his two-run home run sails over the Green Monster in the sixth inning. (Photo: Rich Gagnon/Getty Images North America)
Jose Iglesias watches as his two-run home run sails over the Green Monster in the sixth inning. (Photo: Rich Gagnon/Getty Images North America)

The Red Sox bullpen came on in the seventh and continued their struggles. Joe Kelly made his first appearance since spending time with Triple-A Pawtucket in the seventh, and although he came out throwing gas, the Tigers manufactured a run as James McCann hit an RBI single to score Justin Upton

In the eighth, another former starter Clay Buchholz took over and ran into more trouble. Iglesias singled to begin the inning, advanced to second on a passed ball from Sandy Leon, went to third as a result of a deep Miguel Cabrera flyout to right field, and scored on a Victor Martinez RBI single. Buchholz's dreadful season continues, as his ERA remains over six at 6.06. 

Justin Verlander mows Red Sox bats down, Tigers bullpen survives late scare

The Red Sox entered the game coming off an eight-run effort on Sunday against the Minnesota Twins but were silenced by the 2011 AL MVP

Although it wasn't one of his best performances Verlander pitched well, tossing six innings yielding just five hits and one run. 

The Red Sox' lone run off Verlander came in the second inning, where Travis Shaw doubled home Jackie Bradley Jr. from first base. Shaw has been a streaky hitter all season but is starting to get hot again, as he also hit a home run on Sunday. 

But other than that, the Red Sox failed to really get anything going off the 33-year-old. No other hitter reached third base, as he got David Ortiz to fly out with two away and runners on first and second in the third inning. 

The Tigers turned to their bullpen in the seventh inning, getting a solid scoreless frame from Shane Greene, but found trouble in the eighth. Left-hander Justin Wilson came in but surrendered back-to-back-to-back singles to Ortiz, Hanley Ramirez, and Jackie Bradley JrBryce Brentz came on to pinch hit for Shaw with bases loaded and no outs but struck out. Sandy Leon followed and came through to continue his impressive 2016 season. He singled up the middle, scoring Ortiz only. Leon now accompanies a .400 average as he is 32-80. 

Brock Holt followed, but has struggled against lefties all season, and struck out. Manager John Farrell was immediately criticized after the game, as Aaron Hill was left on the bench with the bases loaded and one away. Holt now has a .130 average in 23 at-bats against southpaws this season. 

Francisco Rodriguez came in to face Mookie Betts with the bases loaded and two away and struck out the first-time All-Star to get the Tigers out of the inning. This season, the Red Sox are hitting just .238 with the bases loaded. 

"K-Rod" stayed in the game in the ninth, and retired the Red Sox in order, preserving the victory. 

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About the author
Oliver P. Gold
A Providence, Rhode Island based sports journalist and blogger with expertise in baseball and basketball. Includes MLB, NBA and NCAA College Basketball. New England sports fan of Boston Red Sox, Boston Celtics and Providence Friars.