Live blog: Tigers blanked by Paxton, Mariners
FINAL: MARINERS 8, TIGERS 0
James Paxton pitched seven strong innings, and the Tigers bats found none of the magic that propelled them to 19 runs in last night's game, falling to the Mariners, 7-0, on Wednesday night.
Paxton struck out nine, giving up four hits and walking just one on 103 pitches.
Daniel Norris struggled with his command early on, and the Tigers were only able to get four innings out of him as his pitch count ballooned to 104. Norris gave up four runs, walked two and struck out four.
Seattle tagged Tigers pitching for 15 hits.
In the ninth, Victor Martinez drew a one-out walk against reliever Edwin Diaz, but Justin Upton popped out and John Hicks flew out to right field to end the game.
The Tigers have Justin Verlander (1-2, 6.04 ERA) on the mound tomorrow as they try to win the rubber match with the Mariners. Seattle will counter with Hisashi Iwakuma (0-2, 5.31 ERA).
Top 9th: Mariners 8, Tigers 0
Danny Valencia drilled a leadoff double to center field that would have been a triple had it not hopped over the fence. Anibal Sanchez, in his fourth inning of work, appeared to get out of the inning on a Jarrod Dyson ground ball, but he dropped an exchange at first base and Valencia was able to score from second.
Ben Gamel flew out to center field, and Mike Zunino struck out looking for the first two outs of the inning.
Bottom 8th: Mariners 7, Tigers 0
Andrew Romine flew out to right field, Ian Kinsler popped out to second, and Mikie Mahtook struck out swinging against Seattle reliever Nick Vincent.
Top 8th: Mariners 7, Tigers 0
Robinson Cano flew out to right field, Nelson Cruz grounded out to second, and Tyler Motter grounded out to third as Anibal Sanchez had his first easy inning in relief.
Bottom 7th: Mariners 7, Tigers 0
John Hicks worked a one-out walk, and James McCann dropped a single into center field to give the Tigers a bit of momentum against James Paxton.
That momentum disappeared quickly, as Paxton got Dixon Machado to ground into an inning-ending double play.
Justin Upton popped out to second to leadoff the inning.
That may be the last the Tigers see of Paxton tonight. His pitch count is up to 103. They won't be sad to see him go.
Top 7th: Mariners 7, Tigers 0
Jarrod Dyson notched a two-out single through the right side of the infield, and he picked up his second steal of the night to give Seattle a man in scoring position. Jean Segura brought him home with a double to right center, and all seven of the Mariners runs tonight have come with two outs.
Ben Gamel flew out to right field, and Mike Zunino struck out swinging to start the inning.
Bottom 6th: Mariners 6, Tigers 0
Mikie Mahtook popped out into foul territory, Nick Castellanos grounded out to shortstop, and Victor Martinez flew out to right field as the Tigers went down in order on just six pitches from Seattle starter James Paxton.
Top 6th: Mariners 6, Tigers 0
Anibal Sanchez made his way to the mound from the bullpen for the sixth inning, giving up a leadoff single to Jean Segura before picking up a strikeout of Guillermo Heredia. After striking out Robinson Cano, it looked like Sanchez might have a relatively easy inning.
That was not the case, as Tiger-killer Nelson Cruz drilled a two-run shot to deep left center that gives Seattle a 6-0 lead.
Bottom 5th: Mariners 4, Tigers 0
James Paxton continues to mow down Tigers hitters as his strikeout count is up to nine after picking up two more in the fifth.
Dixon Machado struck out swinging, Andrew Romine did the same, and Ian Kinsler flew out to left field to end the inning.
Top 5th: Mariners 4, Tigers 0
Daniel Norris didn't have the night he was looking for, and Shane Greene was forced to come on with the bases loaded and nobody out.
All things considered, Greene did well in giving up just one run in that tough situation.
Robinson Cano led off the fifth inning with a double to right field, and Norris then issued a walk to Nelson before he was chased from the game by a Taylor Motter single that loaded the bases. After Greene got Danny Valencia to pop out, he issued a walk to Ben Gamel to put Seattle up 4-0. Greene was able to strike out Mike Zunino for the second out of the inning, and he minimized the damage by getting Jarrod Dyson to ground out to second base.
Norris' final line: 4.0 IP, 9 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 2 BB, 4 K, 104 pitches
Bottom 4th: Mariners 3, Tigers 0
James Paxton has struck out seven after using his mid-90s fastball to get out of a jam in the fourth inning.
Victor Martinez struck out swinging for what should have been the second out of the inning, but he was able to reach first base after Seattle catcher Mike Zunino dropped the ball and allowed it to roll all the way to the backstop. Justin Upton followed with a single to right field to give the Tigers two men on with one out. John Hicks struck out swinging, and James McCann did the same as Paxton worked his magic.
Nick Castellanos flew out to right field to leadoff the inning.
Top 4th: Mariners 3, Tigers 0
Jarrod Dyson notched a one-out infield single, and the former Kansas City Royal used his speed to easily swipe second on Daniel Norris and James McCann. Jean Segura flew out to center field for the second out of the inning, and Norris was able to get out of the frame by getting Guillermo Heredia to fly out to right field.
Mike Zunino flew out deep to center field, where Andrew Romine turned on the jets and made a nice running grab to start the inning.
Norris' pitch count is up to 86.
Bottom 3rd: Mariners 3, Tigers 0
Andrew Romine grounded out to first, Ian Kinsler grounded out to second, and Mikie Mahtook lined out to first as the Tigers went down in order in the third.
Top 3rd: Mariners 3, Tigers 0
Danny Valencia notched a two-out infield single, and then proceeded to steal second base, but Daniel Norris struck out Ben Gamel to get out of the inning.
Norris' pitch count is now at a gaudy 71 after three frames.
Nelson Cruz struck out looking, and Taylor Motter flew out to left field to start the inning.
Bottom 2nd: Mariners 3, Tigers 0
Victor Martinez got things started with a leadoff single through the right side of the infield, and after Justin Upton struck out looking, John Hicks hit a laser to right center for a double that put the Tigers in business with men on second and third. The Tigers couldn't get anything across the plate, though, as James McCann struck out and Dixon Machado grounded out to third.
Top 2nd: Mariners 3, Tigers 0
Mike Zunino ripped a one-out single to left field, and he moved into scoring position with two outs when Jarrod Dyson grounded into a fielder's choice. Jean Segura brought Zunino around to score when he ripped a fastball into center field for an RBI single, putting Seattle up 1-0.
That wasn't good enough for Guillermo Heredia, who took things a step further with a two-run shot over the left field wall that boosted the lead to 3-0. The blast was Heredia's second of the season.
Bottom 1st: Tigers 0, Mariners 0
Ian Kinsler grounded out to shortstop, Mikie Mahtook struck out looking, and Nick Castellanos did the same as the Tigers went down in order in the first inning against hard-throwing southpaw James Paxton.
Top 1st: Tigers 0, Mariners 0
Daniel Norris worked out of a bases loaded jam in the first inning to keep a dangerous Seattle offense off the board early on.
After Norris won a nine-pitch at-bat with Jean Segura to leadoff the game, getting the shortstop to fly out to center field, Guillermo Heredia was able to reach when he just barely beat out a bunt. Robinson Cano worked a walk, and Nelson Cruz singled through the left side of the infield. It was such a bullet off the bat of Cruz that Guillermo had to stop at third base.
That's when Norris went to work, striking out Taylor Motter and getting Danny Valencia to line out to second base to end the inning.
Norris threw a hefty sum of 29 pitches in the opening frame.
MARINERS AT TIGERS
First pitch: 7:10 p.m. Wednesday, Comerica Park, Detroit
TV/radio: FSD, 97.1
Records: Tigers are 11-8, first place in the American League Central Division, one game ahead of the White Sox and Indians. The Mariners are 8-13, fifth place in the AL West, 6.5 games behind the Astros.
MARINERS LINEUP
1. Jean Segura, SS
2. Guillermo Heredia, LF
3. Robinson Cano, 2B
4. Nelson Cruz, DH
5. Taylor Motter, 3B
6. Danny Valencia, 1B
7. Ben Gamel, RF
8. Mike Zunino, C
9. Jarrod Dyson, CF
SP: James Paxton, LHP
TIGERS LINEUP
1. Ian Kinsler, 2B
2. Mikie Mahtook, RF
3. Nick Castellanos, 3B
4. Victor Martinez, DH
5. Justin Upton, LF
6. John Hicks, 1B
7. James McCann, C
8. Dixon Machado, SS
9. Andrew Romine, CF
SP: Daniel Norris, LHP