The Detroit Tigers hadn’t scored in 17 innings against the Oakland Athletics.
Finally, in Wednesday’s eighth inning, Miguel Cabrera snapped the scoreless drought with an RBI double to the right-field corner. But the Tigers didn’t advance a runner into scoring position over the first seven innings and were held to four hits in a 12-3 loss to the Athletics at Comerica Park, handing the A’s the series win despite the worst record in baseball, at 25-63.
The Tigers (37-48) need to win Thursday to avoid a three-game series sweep, after losing 1-0 in extra innings in Tuesday’s series opener, but right-hander Michael Lorenzen has a 6.28 ERA in his past five starts.
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The problem is the offense, though left-hander Eduardo Rodriguez didn’t help the Tigers in his return from the injured list. The 30-year-old, who posted a 2.13 ERA in his first 11 starts this season, missed a little more than a month because of a ruptured pulley in his left index finger.
Rodriguez allowed five runs on six hits across four innings, throwing 49 of 79 pitches for strikes. He recorded seven strikeouts without conceding a walk. The Athletics tagged him for a pair of home runs.
Ryan Noda smoked a middle-middle fastball in a 3-0 count for a two-run homer in the first inning, and Shea Langeliers launched a second-pitch cutter for a solo homer in the fourth inning.
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The Athletics opened the first inning with a single from Esteury Ruiz. He reached safely on a bunt between Rodriguez and first baseman Spencer Torkelson, then swiped second base for his MLB-leading 43rd steal of the season.
Ruiz came around to score on Brent Rooker’s sacrifice fly for a 1-0 lead. The two-run homer from Noda put the Athletics ahead, 3-0, with two outs in the first inning.
Aledmys Diaz pushed the advantage to 4-0 with a two-out RBI double in the third inning, followed by Langeliers’ solo shot in the fourth inning for a 5-0 margin. Rodriguez finished the fourth with three consecutive strikeouts.
A’s keep hitting
The Athletics scored four runs in the sixth inning and three runs in the eighth inning, making it 12-0.
One run was charged to right-handed reliever Mason Englert. Six runs were charged to left-handed reliever Zach Logue, pitching against his former team. Englert covered 1⅓ innings with 23 pitches, then Logue covered the next 3⅔ innings with 62 pitches.
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Oakland had four players with multi-hit performances: Ruiz (2-for-4 with two RBIs), Jordan Diaz (3-for-5 with two RBIs), Langeliers (2-for-5 with one RBI) and Tony Kemp (2-for-4 with two RBIs).
The Athletics, despite entering Wednesday averaging 3.54 runs per game, scored 12 runs on 14 hits and one walk.
Bad offense
Cabrera drew a six-pitch walk in the sixth inning.
The Tigers stranded Cabrera when Zack Short struck out and Jake Marisnick grounded into an inning-ending double play. Back in the fourth inning, the Tigers stranded Zach McKinstry when Spencer Torkelson grounded into a double play and Andy Ibáñez struck out.
In the eighth inning, Jonathan Schoop walked for the 13th time in 146 plate appearances this season. The next batter, Tyler Nevin, had the same result: a five-pitch walk. With one out, Cabrera’s double drove in the Tigers’ first run since Sunday against the Colorado Rockies.
It was the 617th double of Cabrera’s 21-year MLB career.
The Tigers cut the deficit to 12-2 with Marisnick’s sacrifice fly.
Torkelson reached third base with a triple in the bottom of the ninth inning, as the ball rolled past diving center fielder JJ Bleday and traveled to the base of the wall. Schoop drove him in with a one-out double to the left-field corner for his sixth RBI and the Tigers’ third run.
Detroit finished with four hits and four walks.
Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him on Twitter @EvanPetzold.