Tigers 3, Red Sox 10: Tempers flare in a blow-out as Detroit’s bats fall largely silent
I thought the Red Sox were supposed to be bad?
May 5, 2026; Detroit, Michigan, USA; Detroit Tigers center fielder Matt Vierling (8) celebrates in the dugout as he gets showered with sunflower seeds after hitting a lead-off home run against the Boston Red Sox in the first inning at Comerica Park. Mandatory Credit: Lon Horwedel-Imagn Images | Lon Horwedel-Imagn Images The Tigers find themselves in a precarious position early in the season. They’ve lost two starters as Casey Mize and now Tarik Skubal are out of commission, and they just dropped the first game of the series to one of the most struggling teams in the AL.
They needed to start winning, if only to prove to themselves that they still had it in them, but more importantly to keep themselves atop of the division or close enough, for it to count when they start getting some pitching help back later in the month. In the second game of the series against the Red Sox, the Tigers were leaning on Framber Valdez, while the Red Sox went the Opener routine, starting lefty specialist Jovani Moran. In the first, with two outs, Wilyer Abreu singled.
Abreu then stole second. Trevor Story reached thanks to a fielding error by the freshly returned Zach McKinstry, pushing Abreu to third. Then Story stole second as well.
A Ceddanne Rafaela homer was the worst-case scenario, and was precisely what happened, pushing the Sox to an early 3-0 lead. Valdez managed to get the final out of the inning, but it was quite the deficit to start the game with. Heading into the home half, Matt Vierling took one back, hitting a leadoff home run.
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