Oakland A’s pitcher Adam Kolarek deals in the top of the ninth inning at Comerica Park in Detroit in the first game of a doubleheader on Tue May 10, 2022 as the A’s were the home team against the visiting Detroit Tigers in the front game (AP News photo)
A’s Split Double Header With Detroit
By Barbara Mason
Tuesday afternoon the Oakland A’s (12-19) took on the Detroit Tigers (9-21) in a double header. In game one the A’s were the home team. Frankie Montas was on the mound for Oakland. He went 6.1 innings and allowed 6 hits and 4 runs.
The Tigers Tarik Skubal had a solid game going seven innings. He gave up three hits and had five strikeouts.
Detroit was able to put points on the scoreboard in the fifth, sixth and seventh innings leading 6-0 after eight innings. In the fifth inning Schoop scored off a Derek Hill sacrifice. Willi Castro also scored in the fifth giving the Tigers a 2-0 lead. Detroit extended their lead in the sixth inning when Jonathan Schoop homered to left for a 3-0 score.
The Tigers were not done. The seventh inning was huge for the team. Jeimer Candelairio hit a double allowing Javier Baez, Robbie Grossman and Austin Meadows to score. The 6-0 lead for Detroit would be the final.
The Tigers had ten hits to the A’s three hits. The A’s bats continued to struggle.
There was a horrendous infield collision between Elvis Andrus and Chad Pinder in the fifth inning. They were both giving chase and colliding.
Pinder was on the ground for several minutes before getting up. Both players were checked out by trainers and stayed in the game. Out of an abundance of caution neither player would play in the second game. The fact that both of them appeared to be ok was good news for Oakland.
There would be a brief rest period after game one before going into the second game of the double header.
Game 2 recap: The A’s would send rookie pitcher Adrian Martinez to the mound in his MLB debut. He would be the eighth player on the A’s to make their major league debut this year. Alex Faedo would be on the mound for the Tigers in game two.
The A’s would take advantage of a throwing error by Tiger catcher Eric Haase in the fourth inning. Sheldon Neuse on first was able to reach third base on this error. Jed Lowrie hit a sacrifice fly and Neuse would score for a 1-0 lead.
The A’s got a rally going in the fourth inning. Sean Murphy was on third and a Kevin Smith single brought him home for a 2-0 lead. There were three hits in the fourth inning for Oakland. Oakland stranded Laureano and Smith in that inning.
In the night cap it was all A’s. Kevin Smith would score in the seventh inning when Pache singled. They would add another run in the ninth inning. Ramon Laureano would have his first score since coming back. Going into the bottom of the ninth Oakland had a 4-0 lead.
Lou Trivino would get out of a sticky situation when the Tigers loaded the bases in the ninth inning. The Tigers would avoid the shutout when Cabrera scored but that would be it for Detroit. Oakland won the second game 4-1.
While Oakland was hoping for a sweep in these two games they did split. The A’s had eight hits in this game. There were no homer runs for the A’s but getting those bats going again was a very good thing. It was a great start for Martinez going 5.1 innings allowing 4 hits.
Wednesday’s game in Detroit will start at 4:10 PM. Zach Logue (1-1 ERA 2.84) will start for the A’s and for the Tigers Joey Wentz (0-0 ERA 0.00) will take the mound. This will be Logue’s second start this season. First pitch is slated for 4:10 pm PDT at Comerica Park.