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Pirates Take Down Tigers

DETROIT — Starling Marte dropped down a sacrifice bunt in the fifth inning of Pittsburgh’s game against Detroit. Not exactly the norm for the slugging outfielder — but a sign of how much he’s struggled early this season.

Later, with the score tied in the 10th, it was time to swing away.

Marte’s two-run homer lifted the Pirates to a 5-3 victory over the Tigers on Tuesday night. It was only the second home run of the season for Marte, who is hitting .213.

“You saw him take the game in his own hands earlier and put down a bunt. There’s no bunt sign on. He wanted to bunt,” manager Clint Hurdle said.

“He put down the bunt the one time, and then had a couple punchouts. And then, what a sweet swing.”

Jung Ho Kang also went deep for Pittsburgh, which blew a 3-0 lead but recovered to win when Marte hit a two-out drive off Shane Greene (0-1). Detroit’s closer hadn’t allowed a run all season.

“Breaking ball,” Marte said.

“Slider, I think. Gave me a pitch right in the middle. Didn’t try to do too much. Just tried to hit the ball up the middle.”

Keone Kela (1-0) gave up a tying single by Jeimer Candelario in the ninth, but Nick Kingham was able to close out the Tigers in the 10th for his first career save.

Pittsburgh starter Joe Musgrove permitted his first two earned runs of the season but was otherwise impressive. He yielded six hits and a walk while striking out six in seven innings.

Tigers starter Matthew Boyd struck out the side in the first but eventually allowed three runs in seven innings.

Pittsburgh opened the scoring on an RBI infield single by Pablo Reyes in the second.

With runners on first and third and two outs, Reyes hit a weak grounder to first baseman Miguel Cabrera, who looked to throw to second for a force, only to realize he had no play there. That initial reaction also cost him any chance of a play at first.

The Tigers wasted an opportunity in the third when Gordon Beckham hit a leadoff double and Grayson Greiner followed with a single. Beckham was sent home on Greiner’s hit and was thrown out at the plate by Reyes from left field.

“When the ball is hit to the left side, you freeze for a second to make sure it gets through, because you don’t want to run into an out,” Beckham said. “We wanted to force the issue and he made a great throw.”

Kang’s two-run homer in the fourth made it 3-0. He’s just 6 for 42 on the season, but two of those hits are home runs.

The Tigers scored two runs in their half of the fourth. Cabrera came home on a passed ball, and Christin Stewart hit an RBI double.

Musgrove had allowed no earned runs in 15 1/3 innings entering the game.

Pittsburgh closer Felipe V’zquez, who pitched two innings at Washington on Sunday, was given the night off.

FAMILIAR FACE

Josh Harrison, who went from the Pirates to the Tigers in the offseason via free agency, went hitless against his former team.

“I’ve got guys over there that I played with, a lot of good friendships, but there’s no added motivation or anything,” Harrison said before the game. “As far as I’m concerned, they’re another opponent — trying to win a series.”

Detroit also added former Pittsburgh infielder Jordy Mercer, but he’s on the injured list right now after straining his quad.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Pirates: Reinstated RHP Kyle Crick (right triceps) from the 10-day injured list and optioned INF Kevin Kramer to Triple-A Indianapolis.

Tigers: Nicholas Castellanos (toe) played for the first time since Wednesday, going 1 for 5 as the DH.

UP NEXT

Pirates: RHP Trevor Williams (1-0) starts tonight in the finale of this two-game series. Williams threw six no-hit innings in a win at Detroit last April.

Tigers: Spencer Turnbull (0-2) takes the mound for Detroit.

YANKEES 8, RED SOX 0

NEW YORK (AP) — James Paxton struck out 12 in his first stab at baseball’s biggest rivalry, Red Sox ace Chris Sale found his fastball but not better results, and the New York Yankees three-hit Boston in the first game this season between the struggling AL East foes.

Paxton (2-2) pitched two-hit ball for eight innings, walking one and going to just two three-ball counts in a game that took only 2 hours, 23 minutes.

PHILLIES 14, METS 3

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Scott Kingery and J.T. Realmuto each had three hits and five RBIs as Philadelphia routed New York.

Kingery and Maikel Franco hit three-run homers and Realmuto had a pair of two-run doubles in a 10-run first inning. Realmuto also went deep for the Phillies in the fourth.

RAYS 4, ORIOLES 2

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Tyler Glasnow allowed two runs over seven innings in winning his fourth consecutive start to begin the season and Avisail Garcia drove in three runs as Tampa Bay beat Baltimore for its seventh win in eight games.

Glasnow (4-0) allowed hits to six of the first 13 batters, but allowed one hit over his final 4 2/3 innings and ended the outing by retiring 10 in a row.

CUBS 4, MARLINS 0

MIAMI (AP) — Jose Quintana gave up six hits in seven innings to lead Chicago over Miami.

Quintana (2-1) struck out seven and extended his scoreless innings streak to 14. He didn’t allow a runner to reach second until Austin Dean’s two-out double in the seventh.

GIANTS 7, NATIONALS 3

WASHINGTON (AP) — Evan Longoria, Brandon Belt and Steven Duggar homered off fastballs from Stephen Strasburg and light-hitting San Francisco powered past Washington.

The Giants entered the game with 10 homers through their first 17 games. They won for the fourth time in five games.

BREWERS 8, CARDINALS 4

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Christian Yelich welcomed hard-throwing prospect Ryan Helsley to the big leagues with a three-run homer, his eighth against St. Louis this season, to help send the Milwaukee Brewers to a victory over the Cardinals.

Lorenzo Cain and Yasmani Grandal each homered in a five-run third against Jack Flaherty (1-1), when the Brewers went up 5-0.

BLUE JAYS 6, TWINS 5

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Teoscar Hernandez hit a two-out single in the seventh inning, delivering the go-ahead hit for the second straight game, as the Toronto Blue Jays beat the Minnesota Twins.

Hernandez singled off Twins reliever Trevor Hildenberger in the top of the seventh to give Toronto a 6-4 lead. Hernandez had capitalized against Minnesota’s bullpen a day earlier, too, hitting a home run in the eighth inning that gave the Blue Jays a 5-3 win Monday.

WHITE SOX 5, ROYALS 1

CHICAGO (AP) — Yoan Moncada hit a pair of solo shots for his first multihomer game and Leury Garcia added a two-run drive to power the Chicago White Sox past the Kansas City Royals.

Yonder Alonso also homered and went 4 for 4 as the White Sox won for the fourth time in five games.

RANGERS 5, ANGELS 0

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Mike Minor threw a three-hitter for his first career shutout while Joey Gallo and Asdrubal Cabrera hit drastically different two-run homers as the Texas Rangers beat the Los Angeles Angels.

Minor (2-1) limited Los Angeles to three singles while throwing 103 pitches with seven strikeouts and two walks. The only time the Angels had a runner reach second base was when David Fletcher led off the game with a walk and moved up on a single by Andrelton Simmons.

DIAMONDBACKS 9, BRAVES 6

ATLANTA (AP) — Christian Walker homered leading off the ninth inning and the Arizona Diamondbacks rallied against the shaky Atlanta bullpen for a victory as the Braves squandered a massive, knee-buckling homer by Ronald AcuÃ’a Jr. and another strong start by Max Fried.

Johan Camargo’s three-run double in the fifth put the Braves ahead. Fried finally gave up his first earned runs of the season but left with a 5-2 lead, only to watch the relievers give it away.

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