Tigers 7, Padres 5: Team Tank doesn’t sweep

The Padres jumped out to an early lead this afternoon as they attempted to sweep the Tigers. Wil Myers launched a first-inning home run, and Erick Aybar joined him one frame later with a solo shot of his own. The offense put up three runs before Detroit woke up from their cat nap and put up five runs overall. But Clayton Richard faltered in the sixth inning, and Brandon Maurer tanked a yeoman’s effort by the bullpen when he allowed the winning run to score in the ninth.

Wil’s fifteenth bomb of the year was a mighty one, landing in the second deck of left field. Right now he’s on pace for a 30-homer season.

Friar faithful didn’t have to wait long to see another dinger: Aybar led off the second with his.

Hunter Renfroe followed that with a single, and then Matt Szczur brought him home with a triple. Unfortunately, Szczur never saw the plate himself, as Jordan Zimmermann struck out the next three batters to avoid a crooked number.

Richard ran into trouble in the third as the Tigers tied things up. Our old friend Justin Upton led off with a ground rule double. One out later, Mikie Mahtook tripled to right. Richard almost escaped with just one run, getting Nicholas Castellanos to ground out. But he couldn’t get to James McCann. He missed the zone on three straight pitches before McCann laced a double to left. Jose Iglesias hit a grounder up the middle, and just like that, the game was tied.

The Friars got a couple of those runs back right away. Erick Aybar led off the bottom half of the inning with a single, then Renfroe drew a walk. Aybar advanced on a line out, and then Richard helped himself out with a bunt RBI. A double by Jose Pirela put the Padres back on top, where they would stay until the sixth. That’s when Richard couldn’t keep the ball on the ground. With a runner on first and one out, Castellanos took a two-seamer deep to right field, knotting the game at five all.

Kirby Yates took over, and he was followed by Phil Maton and Brad Hand in holding the game. But Maurer was the weak link. He gave up a leadoff double to Ian Kinsler, and then issued a one-out walk to Upton. Maurer almost escaped, but Mahtook’s two-out single was good for a pair of runs that the Padres couldn’t answer.

The Friars will have to stew over this one through tomorrow’s off day. They’ll host the Braves starting at 7:10 PM Tuesday.