Tigers edge O's in battle of HRs for series win

May 18th, 2017

DETROIT -- The Tigers and O's wrapped up a wild series with another battle of long drives on a hot Thursday afternoon at Comerica Park. J.D. Martinez hit a three-run home run and added a two-run shot, as the Tigers handed O's youngster his first rough start of the season, taking the three-game series with a 6-5 win.
The Tigers won a series from the O's for the first time since May 2014.
"It's a very good team," Tigers manager Brad Ausmus said of the Orioles. "Obviously I think J.D. played a very big part in this series, being back in the lineup. But Victor's swinging the bat well. And really, overall, the bullpen did a pretty good job."
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Bundy (5-2) entered Thursday unbeaten in six starts since mid-April and 8-for-8 in quality starts for the season, but fell to a barrage of extra-base hits from a Tigers lineup that was missing injured . J.D. Martinez's fifth homer in six games brought Detroit back from a 3-0 deficit in the third before Victor Martinez's third homer of the season put the Tigers in front for good. Alex Avila's second double of the afternoon provided what turned out a critical add-on run.

"The hard part is when our team got the lead, it seemed like I gave it up every inning after we got the lead," said Bundy, who also surrendered a season-high eight hits and four walks. "That can't happen, and I got to do a better job." 
Tigers starter (4-2) gave up home runs to Chris Davis and , plus several hard-hit foul balls, but limited the damage to four runs over six innings with six strikeouts for his first win over Baltimore since July 11, 2015. Seth Smith added a seventh-inning solo shot off , but and Alex Wilson combined to retire Baltimore's last eight batters, culminating with Wilson's second save of the season.
"I think the big thing was fastball command, away to lefties, away to righties, and I was able to get first-pitch strikes," Zimmermann said.
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MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
Just Delivering a tie game: Bundy had the right idea to start off J.D. Martinez with an offspeed pitch when he stepped to the plate with two on and one out in the third. Bundy did not have the execution, leaving a changeup over the heart of the plate. Martinez mashed it to left-center, turning on a 82 mph pitch with a 110 mph exit velocity, according to Statcast™.
"There's no two ways about it: [Martinez] rolled out of bed hot," Ausmus said. "I hope he doesn't cool down for another 4 1/2 months. He looks real good at the plate. He's not chasing the ball out of the zone a lot, which tells me he's seeing the ball. And he's just taking good swings."

Collins contains damage: A day after powered the Tigers to victories with two home runs, he helped out with his glove. Two batters after Smith's homer drew Baltimore within a run, Jones sent a 412-foot drive to left-center. Collins, playing center field in spacious Comerica Park, ran it down, crashing into the wall as he corralled the ball.
"It seemed like there were about 10 balls hit out in that same little triangle out there," Orioles manager Buck Showalter said. "Everybody's playing in the same ballpark. They had some balls that would have been home runs in most parts in center field, too. I actually think we were a little more fortunate than they were."

QUOTABLE
"A one-run loss means something could just have been flipped and been changed. That's all it means. It's not like we've been blown out -- it's just a flip of the coin. We could be 6-1 or 7-0. I look at it like we played three good teams. I think that we would have obviously wanted a better outcome, but one-run losses, when you're playing one-run games, it means you're playing good baseball. You're playing tight baseball. I tip my cap to my teammates for grinding it out." --Orioles center fielder Jones on the team's 1-6 road trip, with all six defeats coming by one run.
"We haven't been horrible. We haven't been great. I think we're in a division that nobody has claimed. We've had quite a few injuries. We've been inconsistent offensively, inconsistent from an elite pitching perspective. Probably the reason I'm optimistic is how we'll play the rest of the way. I feel good about the team. I really do." -- Ausmus on the Tigers as they near the quarter point of the season.
SOUND SMART WITH YOUR FRIENDS
• Jones' fifth-inning home run had a hit probability of just six percent and a 88.7 mph exit velocity, making it the softest homer of the season, according to Statcast™.
• J.D. Martinez, who missed the first six weeks of the season with a right mid-foot sprain, is the first Major Leaguer since 1999 to post eight or more hits and eight or more walks in his first 24 plate appearances in a season.

REPLAY REVIEW
Showalter helped keep his team within a run when he challenged Collins' steal of third base in the bottom of the eighth inning. A 56-second review showed that Collins was out, overturning the original call from third-base umpire Mark Carlson.

WHAT'S NEXT
Orioles:Chris Tillman, who has gone five or fewer innings in both of his starts back from the disabled list, will take the mound in Friday night's series opener vs. Toronto. He'll be opposed by Blue Jays righty for the 7:05 ET matchup.
Tigers: Detroit's homestand continues this weekend with a visit from the Texas Rangers, starting with a 7:10 p.m. ET contest on Friday at Comerica Park. (2-2, 4.34) gets the start for Detroit in search of his first win since May 1. The Tigers offense, meanwhile, will try to get going without injured Cabrera or Victor Martinez, who will be on paternity leave.
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