by Jerry Feitelberg

AP photo: Detroit Tigers designated hitter Vic Martinez goes yard for a three run shot in the Detroit half of the sixth against the Oakland A’s on Wednesday night at CoAmerica

The A’s sent their ace, Sonny Gray, to the hill Wednesday night in Detroit hoping to send the Tigers down to defeat. The Tigers’ Justin Verlander, who beat Gray in Game Five of the ALDS in 2013, was very effective as he and the Tigers drubbed the A’s 9-4.

Gray left the game after just two innings of work.He gave up four runs in the bottom of the second. The big hit was J.D.Martinez’s three-run homer to put the Tigers in the lead 4-0. For Gray, it was the quickest exit of his career and left A’s manager Bob Melvin having to go to the bullpen early. The A’s Khris Davis made it a 4-1 game in the top of the fourth when he hit a monster home run to deep center field that almost hit the statue of Tiger legend Al Kaline. The Tigers scored in the bottom of the fourth when the A’s made two errors that allowed an unearned run. Tigers in the lead 5-1 after four.

The Tigers put the game away in the bottom of the sixth when the other Martinez(Victor) hit a three-run dinger off Liam Hendricks to make it 8-1. The A’s scored two in the eighth and one in the ninth. It was not enough as Detroit won 9-4.

Game Notes- Sonny Gray’s record dropped to 3-2 while Verlander’s improved to 2-2.  The pitching line for Gray was two innings pitched, two hits, four runs, four walks, one home run and sixty-four pitches. The A’s are now 11-11 for the year and are 5-4 on the ten-game road trip. The Series finale will be at 10 am PT Thursday morning. Chris Bassitt will go for Oakland, and he will be opposed by Anibal Sanchez. The A’s return to Oakland to face the Houston Astros Friday night. Lefty Sean Manaea was recalled from Nashville and may make his MLB debut in that game.