Despite blowing a lead in the ninth inning the Detroit Tigers were able to come through with a 7-6 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers thanks to Victor Martinez hitting a 10th inning home run off of Kenley Janses in a series that seems to be about dramatic extra inning endings.
Joe Nathan blew the save in the ninth as the Dodgers scored 3 runs to come back from 6-3 behind. It was the second blown save for Nathan this season yet he still picked up the win (2-0, 12.27 ERA) thanks to statistics of baseball and the batting of his teammates.
Martinez was on fire in the game, going 3-for-3 and walking once, saving his best for last. His sacrifice fly in the 1st inning helped the Tigers open the scoring; in the third inning he scored thanks to a three-run homer from Nick Castellanos and the biggest moment came in the 10th, the first batter to come out in the inning and face Jansen, hitting his second home run of the season.
The Dodgers entered the ninth inning way behind because of a rough day for Josh Beckett, giving up five runs and five hits in the four innings he played in, his first start of the season. Castellanos hit a three-run homer off of him in the third, and Austin Jackson had a sacrifice fly in the 7th inning that scored Ian Kinsler.
But then the Dodgers’ talent came to work, getting a home run from Adrian Gonzalez, followed by Scott van Slyke grounding out to third which helped score Andre Ethier. Dee Gordon came on to bat next and his single brought Matt Kemp home, forcing the extra inning which the Tigers came out of on top.
Anibal Sanchez was so-so in his start, striking out six batters in the five innings he played in, giving up six hits. He threw 110 pitches before the Tigers started turning to their bullpen, getting a strong performance from Drew Smyly who struck out three in three innings, and later on to finish the game from Ian Krol and Al Albuquerque.
There’s been a lot of inconsistent hitting from the Dodgers so far this season, who had Yasiel Puig back, used a pinch hitter. He was struck out on his only at bat.
The Tigers now move on to play three games in San Diego against the Padres, as Rick Porcello who is 1-0 gets to start first for them. The Dodgers also enter a series with an NL West opponent, playing three games on the road against the Diamondbacks with Hyun-Jin Ryu starting the series for them, following the 1-1 split with the Tigers.