Detroit — These late-summer games are becoming routine for the Tigers.
Routinely a tease.
They had another of their ninth-inning rallies Wednesday at Comerica Park, scrambling for a pair of runs, all before losing, 3-2, for their 10th defeat in the past 12 games.
With the A’s en route to what seemed an easy series sweep, the Tigers got a leadoff walk in the ninth from Efren Navarro, who romped to third on Mikie Mahtook’s double. Both runners scored on Andrew Romine’s hard single to right.
BOX SCORE: Athletics 3, Tigers 2
Romine would have been happy to score a third and tying had his mates cooperated.
But no.
Jose Iglesias followed with a slow ground ball to short that got Romine at second. Then, after a wild pitch sent Iglesias to second, Alex Presley struck out.
Anibal Sanchez’s pitching was one spot of solace for a team that now sits at 62-90 with 10 games remaining in 2017.
Sanchez pitched six innings, allowed three hits and a lone run, while striking out eight and walking three.
The only dent came in the second when Bruce Maxwell drove a pitch over Nicholas Castellanos’ glove in right field for a double. Maxwell scored on Marcus Semien’s follow-up double.
The Tigers out-hit the A’s, nine to six, but their only extra-bases poke apart from Mahtook’s double came in the first when Jeimer Candelario drove a double against the right-center field wall.
Candelario later added a single, which was as much as the Tigers got from seven additional batters.
Daniel Stumpf pitched the seventh and was socked for a long, two-run homer into the left-field bleachers by Semien.
Joe Jimenez pitched the eighth and looked very good: two strikeouts on two final-strike fastballs of 96 and 95 mph. Zac Reininger put away the A’s in the ninth.
The Tigers will begin a four-game series Thursday night against the Twins — their final home games of 2017.
lynn.henning@detroitnews.com
twitter.com/Lynn_Henning
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