Detroit Tigers right-hander Alex Faedo, the No. 18 overall pick in the 2017 draft, took a step forward in his second MLB start.
He completed five innings of two-run ball. And the 26-year-old looked comfortable while doing so.
Unlike Game 1, the offense didn’t provide run support in Game 2 of Tuesday’s doubleheader. Oakland Athletics righty starter Adrian Martinez, making his MLB debut, countered Faedo’s efforts by pitching into the sixth inning.
The Tigers lost, 4-1, and split the doubleheader at Comerica Park.
GAME 1: Tigers back up Tarik Skubal with actual offense in 6-0 win in Game 1 of doubleheader
SEIDEL: Tigers’ frustration is building as offense stalls. There’s no magic cure in sight
After Martinez finished 5⅓ scoreless innings, three Athletics relievers held Detroit to three hits and two walks to end the game. The Tigers (9-21) were largely unthreatening in Game 2, finishing with seven hits, two walks and five strikeouts.
The hits belonged to Austin Meadows, Miguel Cabrera, Jonathan Schoop, Willi Castro and Eric Haase. Rookie Spencer Torkelson went 0-for-3 with one strikeout and one hit-by-pitch. The 22-year-old is slumping: 2-for-35 (.057) in his past 11 games.
Nice job, rook
For the second time in as many starts, Faedo operated as the Tigers’ 27th player for the doubleheader, though he is a candidate — alongside left-hander Joey Wentz — to officially join the starting rotation.
Faedo, throwing 83 pitches, allowed two runs on four hits and two walks with seven strikeouts across five innings.
The most impressive part of Faedo’s performance was his 17 swings and misses, including 10 with his slider. The sliders befuddled the Athletics, especially in the first three innings.
He retired the first seven batters he faced, striking out four of them: Sheldon Neuse (slider, swinging), Seth Brown (changeup, swinging), Ramon Laureano (slider, swinging) and Kevin Smith (fastball, looking).
Faedo walked Luis Barrera with one out in the third inning, then retired his next two opponents. Barrera stole second base and advanced to third base due to the first of two throwing errors by catcher Eric Haase, but Faedo stranded him.
To begin the fourth, Neuse singled and attempted to steal second base. Once again, Haase was charged with a throwing error. Neuse moved up to third base and scored on Jed Lowrie’s sacrifice fly for a 1-0 Athletics lead.
With two outs, Smith knocked Faedo’s first-pitch slider into center field for an RBI single and a 2-0 advantage. Faedo needed 22 pitches for the two-run fourth and 18 pitches for the scoreless fifth.
For his 83 pitches (53 strikes), Faedo used 44 four-seam fastballs (53%), 26 sliders (31%) and 13 changeups (16%). To go with his 10 slider whiffs, he got swings and misses with four fastballs and three changeups.
His fastball averaged 92.8 mph.
Bullpen roundup
Right-handed reliever Will Vest struck the side out looking in the sixth inning, punching out Sean Murphy with a 96.2 mph fastball, Brown with a 95.5 mph fastball and Ramon Laureano with a 95.8 mph fastball.
The Athletics scored their third run in the seventh against left-hander Andrew Chafin. He ceded three singles, and the second hit was an RBI from Pache on a first-pitch slider.
Right-hander Rony García fired a scoreless eighth inning with two strikeouts, but righty Alex Lange conceded Oakland’s fourth run in the ninth. A single from Laureano was followed by a sacrifice bunt, wild pitch and sacrifice fly.
Those plays scored Laureano, putting the Athletics ahead 4-0.
Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him on Twitter @EvanPetzold. Read more on the Detroit Tigers and sign up for our Tigers newsletter.