Brant Hurter pitched effectively in the role of a bulk-innings reliever and the Detroit Tigers took advantage of a door-opening error to score twice in the seventh inning en route to a 2-1 road victory over the Oakland Athletics on Saturday afternoon.
With a second win in the last three days on the road, the Tigers (72-71) kept their hopes alive in a tight battle for American League wild-card playoff positions. Detroit began the weekend 5 1/2 games out of the final spot.
Desperate for a win, the Tigers were unable to crack Oakland minor league call-up Brady Basso for six innings, getting just three hits and falling behind 1-0.
But Colt Keith greeted reliever T.J. McFarland (2-2) with a single to open the seventh. When A’s second baseman Zack Gelof dropped a throw at second base after Spencer Torkelson’s grounder to third, suddenly the Tigers had the potential go-ahead run aboard.
Both baserunners eventually came around to score in quiet fashion as pinch hitter Jake Rogers drew a walk, Dillon Dingler grounded into a fielder’s choice to tie the game and Parker Meadows brought home the eventual difference maker with a sacrifice fly.
Both runs were unearned.
Making his first big-league start, Basso struck out six and walked one in his six shutout innings.
Oakland’s only tally off Hurter (4-1) in 5 1/3 innings came in the fifth when Gelof singled, stole second and scored on Kyle McCann’s RBI single.
Taking over after Brenan Hanifee faced the first three Athletics batters of the game and allowed one hit with one strikeout, Hurter limited the hosts to just the one run on four hits through the sixth inning. He walked one and struck out three.
Protecting a 2-1 lead, Ricky Vanasco threw a 1-2-3 seventh and Sean Guenther got four outs, including the first of the ninth, before closer Jason Foley survived a one-out hit by Tyler Nevin to notch his 21st save.
The homer-less game featured just 11 total hits, with the A’s holding a 6-5 advantage. The only extra-base hits were doubles by the Tigers’ Dingler and Justyn-Henry Malloy, and one by the A’s Lawrence Butler.
The loss was the third in six games on a homestand for the A’s (62-81) against the playoff-contending Seattle Mariners and Tigers.