DETROIT — Alex Avila’s two-run homer with two outs in the bottom of the 11th inning gave the Detroit Tigers a stunning 13-12 victory over Boston on Sunday, leaving the Red Sox winless in three games under new manager Bobby Valentine.
Detroit trailed 10-7 when Miguel Cabrera tied the game with a three-run shot off Alfredo Aceves in the ninth. Boston then scored twice in the 11th, but Mark Melancon (0-2) couldn’t hold the lead.
Additional Photos
Cabrera and Prince Fielder singled before a wild pitch sent Cabrera to third and Delmon Young’s sacrifice fly cut the margin in half. Avila followed with a drive to right and Cody Ross tried to make a leaping catch, but the ball appeared to hit a restraining gate just above the wall before caroming back onto the field.
Avila paused near second, then was waved around the bases by the umpires. The play was not reviewed. Valentine said he asked and was assured by umpires that the ball had clearly hit the railing above the fence.
Duane Below (2-0) got one out for the win — even though Detroit manager Jim Leyland said he wouldn’t be available — and the Tigers completed a three-game sweep in a game that lasted 4 hours, 45 minutes.
Boston is without newly acquired closer Andrew Bailey, who had surgery on his right thumb. Melancon and Aceves are the primary candidates to close in Bailey’s absence, and both blew saves on Sunday.
Nick Punto and Dustin Pedroia hit RBI singles in the 11th to give Boston the lead, but it didn’t hold up. Adrian Gonzalez homered earlier for the Red Sox.
Cabrera had five RBIs.
Detroit beat the Red Sox 3-2 in Thursday’s opener and 10-0 on Saturday. The Tigers seemed on their way to another rout when Jhonny Peralta’s three-run double in the first inning gave them a 4-0 lead, but starter Max Scherzer couldn’t hold it.
Scherzer allowed seven runs on eight hits in 2 2-3 innings, but Boston’s Clay Buchholz wasn’t much better. He allowed seven runs on eight hits in four innings in what was his first start since June because of a stress fracture in his back.
Buchholz had gone 42 consecutive starts since the beginning of 2010 without allowing more than five earned runs.
Detroit reliever Daniel Schlereth allowed a two-run homer to Gonzalez on the first pitch he threw after coming on in the seventh. That gave Boston a 9-7 lead, and Vicente Padilla gave Boston four scoreless innings of relief after replacing Buchholz.
The 34-year-old Padilla kept the powerful Detroit lineup off balance, at one point lobbing consecutive pitches of 54 and 52 mph on the stadium gun to Fielder in the seventh.
Punto made it 10-7 with an RBI infield single in the ninth, but Austin Jackson and Brennan Boesch led off the bottom of the inning with singles, and Cabrera tied it.
NOTES: The Tigers placed RHP Doug Fister on the 15-day disabled list and recalled RHP Brayan Villarreal from Triple-A Toledo, moves they announced after Saturday’s game. … Valentine went out onto the field after Gonzalez was hit by a pitch from Phil Coke in the eighth. The umpires then warned both benches, which appeared to annoy the Boston manager even more.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
Success. Please wait for the page to reload. If the page does not reload within 5 seconds, please refresh the page.
Enter your email and password to access comments.
Hi, to comment on stories you must . This profile is in addition to your subscription and website login.
Already have a commenting profile? .
Invalid username/password.
Please check your email to confirm and complete your registration.
Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.
Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.