DETROIT (AP) — For most of the Boston Red Sox, Sunday was a day to forget.

It wasn’t a great success — they lost 10-5 to the Detroit Tigers — but rookie Andrew Benintendi is going to remember it for a long time.

Boston's Andrew Benintendi, right, is congratulated by Dustin Pedroia after hitting a two-run home run against the Detroit Tigers during the seventh inning Sunday in Detroit. AP photo

Benintendi struck out in his last at-bat Friday night, then went 0 for 3 with three whiffs on Saturday. When Justin Verlander got him again in the third inning on Sunday, he knew he needed to fix something.

“When you strike out five straight times, you have time to think about how the pitchers are attacking you,” he said. “I thought I had a pretty good idea what I should be expecting.”

Benintendi led off the sixth inning with a triple off Verlander, the first of his career.

Then in the seventh, Benintendi connected for his first home run, a drive off Shane Greene.

“That was pretty cool, especially because my family was here to see it,” he said. “I wasn’t sure it was going to get out until I saw J.D. (Martinez) give up on it. After that, I just wanted to run fast enough to avoid any trouble. You can’t jog on your first one.”

John Farrell thought the two big hits were one of Boston’s few bright spots.

“It’s always good to see a kid hit his first homer, because it gets that off their mind,” Farrell said. “We know this is a young man with a lot of talent, and he’s going to keep hitting.”

Benintendi didn’t have a chance of keeping up with Justin Upton, though.

Upton broke out of a slump with a pair of three-run homers.

“This was a good day,” he said. “It’s my brother’s birthday, Mom and Dad are here and my wife and kid are here,” Upton said.

The Tigers won for just the fourth time in 14 games, and went 2-5 on their stay at Comerica Park. Boston has lost just two of its last 10.

Martinez had a pair of doubles for the Tigers.

Verlander (13-7) allowed one run on three hits in six innings before being pulled with a nine-run lead. He is 6-1 in his last 10 starts.

Henry Owens (0-1) didn’t find out he was pitching until late Saturday night and didn’t arrive in Detroit from Triple-A until the early morning hours. He gave up eight runs on six hits and five walks in five innings.

Eduardo Rodriguez was expected to return from a hamstring injury to pitch, but felt discomfort during Saturday’s game, so Owens was summoned from Pawtucket.

The Red Sox scored four times off Greene in the seventh, including Benintendi’s two-run homer.

In his last scheduled game in Detroit, David Ortiz hit a 111-mph drive down the right-field line in the first. Instead of settling for his usual single, he took second on Martinez, leading to a joking exchange between the Red Sox star and Verlander after the inning.

“We’ve had a lot of battles,” Verlander said. “That was just one of them.”

Ortiz batted for the final time in the eighth and received long standing ovations both before and after he grounded out. He tipped his cap to the crowd as he walked off.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Red Sox: INF Devin Marrero was optioned back to Pawtucket to clear room for Owens.

LAST PRESENT FOR BIG PAPI

While the Tigers presented Ortiz with a large framed photo set on Saturday, he got another gift from his friends on the team on Sunday. Before the game, he was showing off a custom-made Venezuelan guitar that was decorated with scenes from his playing career.

UP NEXT

Red Sox: Boston travels to Tampa Bay on Monday, with former Ray David Price (11-8, 4.19) facing his old team in the opener. Blake Snell (4-5, 3.06) is scheduled to start for Tampa Bay.

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