By Matthew T.F. Harrington
AP photo: Detroit Tigers manager Gene Lamont removes starter Michael Fulmer in the eighth inning on Friday night at the Coliseum
OAKLAND, Calif. – Perhaps Friday night was the blossoming of a new rivalry on the mound, one to replace the Sonny Gray-Justin Verlander duels for years to come with the Detroit Tigers and Oakland Athletics meet. The Tigers beat the A’s 4-1 to open a three-game set at the O.Co Coliseum.
Cameron Maybin, James McCann, J.D. Martinez and Nick Castellanos each batted in a run for Detroit (24-23) while Jed Lowrie knocked in the lone tally for Oakland (20-29). The real story was the battle of two emerging young arms. Baseball America’s number 48 preseason Sean Manaea was outdueled by the number 47 prospect Michael Fulmer in a dominant outing for the promising young Motown hurler.
Manaea (1-3, 7.03 ERA) cruised through the first three inning, allowing only three hits and no runs. The potent Tiger lineup broke through in the 4th inning, plating two runs on back-to-back-to-back singles from Justin Upton, Cameron Maybin and James McCann.
“I just had a couple pitches that I didn’t execute well enough,” said Manaea. “I just lacked execution, I have to be better at that.”
The Throwin’ Samoan appeared to be in trouble in the next inning, issuing a leadoff double to Ian Kinsler but a timely interference saved the day. With Kinsler advancing to third on a fly out by J.D. Martinez, the heart of the Motor City Kitties lineup came up to the dish with a chance to add on an insurance run.
Manaea issued the intentional base-on-balls to Miguel Cabrera, then coaxed a right field foul territory pop out from Victor Martinez. Kinsler decided to tag up and head for home. At first glance, Kinsler appeared safe at home after Stephen Vogt couldn’t come up with the ball, but home plate Umpire Joe West saw the throw hit Martinez on the leg as he was walking back to the dugout and called Kinsler out for interference.
“I’ve never even heard of that,” said Manaea of the call. “I walked back to the dugout and a lot of guys were saying they’d never seen that too. It was pretty unique and a good way to get out of the inning.”
The first batter would score a hit once again in the next inning, and this time it was a big blow to the Athletics. Nick Castellanos opened the 6th inning by swinging at the lefty’s first offering and depositing it onto the stairwell behind the wall in left field. Castellanos’ 10th homer gave the Tigers a 3-0 lead.
The rookie Manaea would finish off the inning, but cough up a leadoff single to Jose Iglesias before getting the hook from manager Bob Melvin. He departed the game with 4 strikeouts to 2 walks. The A’s no.2 overall prospect according to MLB.com pitched 6-plus innings for a third straight start after not pitching past the 5th inning in his first three starts. It was also the 24-year-old’s third start throwing over 60 strikes, recording 62 in his 93 pitches. In his trio of initial starts he maxed out at 50 strikes.
“I think he threw the ball well,” said Melvin. “He mixed pitches today, used his slider a little more effectively. He threw his changeup less predictably and had a pretty good fastball.”
“My slider was non-existent the first couple games” said Manaea of his earlier outings. “The last couple games it’s finally starting to come around. I found a new changeup, a new grip, a comfortable pitch. The fastball has always been there, I just need to try to execute better but I’m improving each start.”
While the A’s rookie showed signs of improvement, it was Detroit’s first-year hurler who turned heads. Like Manaea, Fulmer (4-1, 3.97 ERA) entered Friday’s match-up making just the 6th start of his career. The righty was coming off a dominant performance against the Tampa Bay Rays last Saturday, striking out a career-high 11 while allowing a career low 1 run. Before that, he allowed 12 runs over his previous 14 1/3 innings (3 starts), performances more indicative of his 5.13 ERA entering play.
Friday’s outing however trumped his gem against Tampa. The 23-year-old went 7 2/3 innings, allowing just 3 hits. He ran into trouble in with a pair retired in the 8th however, yielding a single to Chris Coghlan. Coco Crisp chased Fulmer from the game with a two-out ground rule double, the first Oakland extra-base hit. Reliever Justin Wilson struck out pinch-hitter Billy Butler swinging to end the inning and preserve Fulmer’s shutout bid.
Fulmer used his two- and four-seam fastballs, averaging 95 miles per hour to keep A’s hitters off balance for when he unleashed his low-80’s changeup. Despite boasting the high velocity, Fulmer only picked up three strikeouts while walking Coghlan and hitting Jed Lowrie with a pitch.
“He was throwing hard,” said Melvin of the opposing pitcher. “It seemed like, as the game went on he was throwing even harder. He had a short little slider that was tough to pick up on and for the left handers threw a tough changeup too.”
The A’s scratched across a run in the 9th inning after Danny Valencia reached base on a fielder’s choice. Jed Lowrie continued his tear at the plate in just his second game back from injury. The A’s 2nd baseman tripled to the wall in right field off Francisco Rodrigues to plate Valencia for his 3rd hit in 6 at-bats since returning to the A’s roster.
“You always want to finish out the game and put some pressure on them,” said Melvin. “At the end of the day a loss is a loss but you don’t want to go down easy. You want to show some fight.”
Oakland turns to Jesse Hahn to right the three-game skid Saturday afternoon. He’ll be opposed by southpaw Matt Boyd whom the Tigers called up Friday to make his season debut against the A’s. Boyd split last year, his first season in the big leagues, with Toronto and Detroit. He went 1-6 with a 6.97 ERA. First pitch is at 1:05 pm at the Coliseum.
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