BOSTON — Jhonny Peralta's debut
with Detroit was powerful enough to withstand a late grand slam by David
Ortiz.
Peralta hit two homers in his first
game since being traded and the struggling Tigers beat the Boston Red
Sox 6-5 on Friday night despite Ortiz's ninth-inning homer against
closer Jose Valverde.
Peralta, obtained from the Cleveland
Indians on Wednesday, hit a solo homer in his first at-bat in the second
inning then connected again off Jon Lester, a two-run shot in the
fifth.
"It's something special, this first
at-bat for the Tigers," Peralta said. "I feel good to come here the
first game and do what I'm doing"
Going into the game, Peralta had just
two singles in 15 at-bats against Lester with one RBI, five strikeouts
and two double plays. On Friday he also walked against Lester and
singled off Ramon Ramirez.
"He hadn't had much success with
(Lester) but neither have a lot of other guys," Detroit manager Jim
Leyland said. "So it was nice to see him get on the board right away as a
Tiger."
Detroit took a 6-1 lead into the ninth
and Valverde struck out leadoff hitter Eric Patterson. Then he walked
the next three batters and Ortiz connected for his 22nd homer, just
clearing the low fence in right field.
"It was a nice swing," Boston manager
Terry Francona said. "Would have been nicer if it was a five-run homer."
With two outs, Adrian Beltre then
doubled and J.D. Drew was walked intentionally. But on his 60th pitch of
the game, 12 more than his previous career high, Valverde retired Mike
Cameron on a called third strike with a splitter.
"That's a pretty gutsy pitch,"
Francona said. "I would have been looking for a fastball, too."
The pitcher pounded his right fist on
the mound and catcher Gerald Laird punched the air as the ball broke
over the plate.
"I just didn't get it done," said
Cameron, who struck out in his last three at-bats, twice against
Valverde. "One of those rough nights. Threw a good pitch."
The Tigers, just 4-12 since the
All-Star break, acquired Peralta for left-hander Giovanni Soto to play
third base after Brandon Inge went on the disabled list with a broken
left hand. Peralta has nine homers this season, none in his last eight
games with Cleveland and two in his last 23.
Armando Galarraga lost a chance for
the win when he was struck on the outside of the right ankle by a liner
from Kevin Youkilis with two outs in the fifth and Detroit leading 4-1.
He left with a bruise and was replaced by Enrique Gonzalez, who got the
final out of the inning.
"He was checked out by the doctors
and everything is OK from any type of breaking standpoint," Leyland
said. "He's sore, limping a little bit, but he should be fine."
Robbie Weinhardt (1-1) was awarded
his first career victory after allowing no runs in the next two innings.
The Red Sox lost the opener of a
seven-game homestand after sweeping a three-game series against the Los
Angeles Angels to end their West Coast swing at 6-4.
Lester (11-6) fell behind quickly and
lost his third straight start. Austin Jackson led off the game with a
single and scored on a double by Will Rhymes that bounced off the glove
of Cameron as he ran to deep left-center field. Peralta's homer to left
made it 2-0 in the second.
His second shot over the left-field
wall following a single by Miguel Cabrera put the Tigers ahead 4-0.
Marco Scutaro hit his seventh homer
of the season for Boston to cut the lead to 4-1 with one out in the
fifth. One out later, Youkilis ripped a pitch off Galarraga's ankle and
got a single as the ball bounced toward the left-field line. Galarraga
went down on the mound and Leyland and a trainer went out to check on
him.
After staying on the ground for about
five minutes, Galarraga got up and walked slowly to his dugout.
Gonzalez then walked Ortiz and threw a wild pitch, putting runners on
second and third, then retired Victor Martinez on a long drive to
left-center.
Detroit added two runs in the eighth.
Tim Wakefield walked Jeff Frazier and allowed a single to Gerald Laird
before both runners moved up on a sacrifice by Danny Worth. Frazier
scored and Laird took third on a wild pitch, then scored on a groundout.
Notes
At 43 years, 362 days,
Wakefield became the oldest pitcher to appear in a game for the Red Sox.
He passed Dennis Eckersley, who was 42 years, 358 days. … LF Johnny
Damon was a late scratch for Detroit with pain in the middle of his
back. … Frazier, called up Friday after hitting 23 homers for Toledo
(IL) this season, went 0-for-3 with two strikeouts as the DH. … Boston
OF Jacoby Ellsbury, on the DL since May 28 with fractured ribs, is
scheduled for a rehab appearance Saturday with Pawtucket (IL). …
Lester allowed four runs and 11 hits in six innings with seven
strikeouts and two walks. He has at least six strikeouts in each of his
last nine games.