The Detroit Tigers ended a 13-inning scoreless skid with a five-run second inning en route to a 7-3 victory over the Boston Red Sox in Game 4 of the American League Championship Series on Wednesday.
Red Sox vs. Tigers, ALCS Game 4 final: Detroit evens series with 7-3 win over Boston
The Tigers scored more runs against Jake Peavy on Wednesday than they did against all of Boston’s hurlers in the first three games of the ALCS.
The Tigers erased any chance at another pitchers' duel early when they took advantage of three walks issued by Red Sox starter Jake Peavy in the second. The last of the free passes, drawn by struggling outfielder Austin Jackson, resulted in Detroit's first run. After a botched double play and a couple of hits from the top of the Tigers' order, Peavy and the Red Sox were down by more than a grand slam before they even knew what hit them.
Big-game failures are nothing new for Peavy. He allowed 13 runs in two starts against the St. Louis Cardinals in the 2005 and 2006 postseasons before surrendering six runs in the 2007 NL Tiebreaker against the Colorado Rockies.
Peavy seemed to have his issues behind him after tossing 5⅔ innings of one-run ball against the Tampa Bay Rays in Game 4 of the ALDS, but the relentless Tigers had a different plan for the 32-year-old veteran.
Detroit added a pair of runs against Peavy in the fourth after Omar Infante hit a lead-off double and Austin Jackson and Miguel Cabrera followed with RBI hits. Jackson and Cabrera also both stole a base in the inning, the first two steals for the Tigers in the 2013 postseason.
Boston had its fair share of hits against Doug Fister. In fact, their eight knocks off of the Tigers' starter were more than they had against Anibal Sanchez, Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander combined. However, Fister struck out seven and induced six ground outs to help limit the damage.
Jackson entered the series 3-for-33 at the plate in the postseason, but righted the ship with a 2-for-2, two-RBI performance and reached base a total of four times on the same day he was demoted to the No. 8 spot in the Tigers' lineup. Cabrera and Victor Martinez also chipped in two hits apiece for Detroit.
Red Sox outfielder Jacoby Ellsbury led all hitters with a 4-for-5 performance, including a ninth-inning RBI triple, in the loss.
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