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Gritty performances not enough to lift Tigers over White Sox
DETROIT -- There were some gritty performances by the Tigers Tuesday night, but just not enough for a victory.
Justin Verlander, in his third start of the season, struggled mightily in the early going but found a way to give the Tigers some innings and a chance to win the game.
J.D. Martinez hit a game-tying two-run home run in the eighth, his 20th of the season and 11th in the month of June.
Alex Wilson, called upon in extra innings, threw 3 1/3 scoreless innings and 56 pitches, exiting to a standing ovation.
But it was the Pittsburgh Pirates who overcame a terrible base running error in the 14th and got back-to-back doubles from Josh Harrison and Neil Walker off Tom Gorzelanny to take a 5-4 lead that would turn into a win.
"Again we battled back, kind of similar to the way we did with (White Sox starter Jeff) Samardzija the other day, but were unable to put that final run on the board," Tigers manager Brad Ausmus said. '''Bullpen did a really nice job. I thought Ver was much better his last three innings than he was his first three."
When Harrison doubled, pinch runner Gorkys Hernandez was confused, running back to second when Harrison was getting there and telling him to go. Hernandez then ran to third but failed to tag second base again.
"You have to appeal it first," Ausmus said. "You have to do an appeal, and if they say he touched it, then you can go to replay. But you have to appeal it first, and I just wanted to make sure everyone knew which runner we were appealing, and what base we were appealing to."
Verlander missed his last start because of mid-back stiffness and is still trying to get back in pitching shape after missing the first two and a half months with a strained right triceps muscle.
He was relieved that his back held up for 103 pitches.
"I'd be lying to you if I said it wasn't 'in the back of my mind a little bit, just hoping it wasn't going to spasm up on me again," Verlander said. "It was present but it wasn't impeding my in any way today. I could feel it warming up, it was just kind of tight but it wasn't that same grabby tightness that I felt."
Catcher James McCann said Verlander was not finishing his pitches early on but got better as the game went on.
"It was almost like after he gave up that two-spot, he came out said, I don't have my best stuff today, I'm going to find a way to get it done," McCann said. "He went into attack mode and next thing you know, you look up and it's the sixth, seventh inning and he's found a way to keep us in the ballgame and he's found a way to have a quality start for us."
Verlander allowed three runs (two earned) on six hits while walking five and striking out three.
Wilson started the 11th and continued until there was one out in the 14th.
"That's what Alex Wilson has done all year for us and that's the kind of guy that he is," McCann said. "It doesn't matter the situation, it doesn't matter what point of the ballgame, when his name's called, he's going to find a way to compete and he's going to find a way to get it done. I don't know if that's the most pitches he's thrown in a game this year or not but from the first pitch to the last pitch, he found a way to succeed. He's the kind of guy you want on the mound for you."
Wilson actually came into the game in one month and left in another.
"We ended up using everybody," Wilson said. "Everybody, I thought, pitched extremely well. The whole team together, just to get to the extra baseball was a great team effort. We had guys making plays, we had guys hitting the ball, we had guys throwing the ball today. It was just an unfortunate ending."
