Late rally pushes Red Sox past Tigers
DETROIT -- Sandy Leon lined a tie-breaking two-run single to center in the middle of a four-run eighth-inning rally Sunday to give the Boston Red Sox a 7-5 victory over the Detroit Tigers and snap a two-game losing streak.
Nick Castellanos had given Detroit a brief 4-3 lead when he led off the seventh with his second home run of the season, but the Tigers' erratic bullpen couldn't hold the lead.
Bruce Rondon (0-1) gave up a walk and a single to begin the eighth, with both runners advancing on left fielder Justin Upton's throwing error. Mitch Moreland was walked intentionally and reliever Kyle Ryan walked in the tying run.
Leon lined a two-run single to center to make it 6-4 and the seventh Red Sox run scored on a double play grounder.
Matt Barnes (1-0), fresh off the bereavement list, got the win by allowing one hit in two innings. Craig Kimbrel earned his second save but not before giving up a run on two walks plus an RBI single to right by Victor Martinez in his inning of work
Starter Rick Porcello allowed 11 hits and four runs (one unearned) in six-plus innings for Boston but struck out eight and walked only one.
Lefty Daniel Norris went 6 1/3 innings for the Tigers, allowing three runs on seven hits with three walks and two strikeouts.
Rookie Andrew Benintendi sliced an RBI single to left with two out in the seventh off reliever Alex Wilson to tie the score, 3-3. Runner Marco Hernandez had seemed to be out on an inning-ending double play hit by Dustin Pedroia but Boston manager John Farrell challenged and review revealed Detroit second baseman Ian Kinsler was guilty of taking his foot off the bag before taking and relaying the throw from shortstop Jose Iglesias.
The Tigers took a 3-2 lead in the fourth on a double by Andrew Romine plus Kinsler's second RBI-single of the game, which came with one out.
Boston had tied it, 2-2, in the third on a two-out walk plus an RBI-double by Moreland in the third. Detroit had gone ahead 2-1 in the second on Kinsler's soft two-out RBI single to center, which allowed Romine to score from third with an unearned run.
The Red Sox squared the score, 1-1, in the second on a two-out line RBI single to left by Hernandez. The Tigers took a 1-0 lead in the first on Upton's two-out RBI single up the middle, which came following one-out singles by Castellanos and Miguel Cabrera.
NOTES: Boston optioned RHP Noe Ramirez to Triple-A Pawtucket before activating RHP Matt Barnes from the bereavement list before the game. ... 1B Miguel Cabrera singled to right in the first inning for his first hit of the season. Cabrera was 0-for-12 in his first four games, longest he has ever gone hitless at the start of a season. ... CF Jackie Bradley Jr., who hurt his right knee rounding first in the ninth inning Saturday, was held out of the Red Sox starting lineup after reporting to the park with swelling in the knee. ... The Detroit bullpen ERA expanded to 8.47 by allowing four runs in 2 2/3 innings.