Detroit Tigers starting pitcher Kenta Maeda throws during the first inning of a baseball game against the Washington Nationals, Tuesday, June 11, 2024, in Detroit.
10:57 JST, June 12, 2024
DETROIT (AP) — Lane Thomas hit a sacrifice fly in the top of the 10th inning and the Washington Nationals defeated the Detroit Tigers 5-4 on Tuesday night.
Andrew Chafin (3-2) retired C.J. Abrams to start the 10th, but Jacob Young took third and Abrams reached first base when the throw sailed past Tigers catcher Jake Rogers.
Thomas gave the Nationals a 5-4 lead with a sacrifice fly before Jesse Winker grounded into an inning-ending double play.
Kyle Finnegan (2-3), who took the last of the ninth, threw a perfect 10th to take the win.
Nationals starter Mitchell Parker allowed four unearned runs in 4 2/3 innings.
Tigers starter Kenta Maeda allowed one run on one hit in four innings. He threw just 40 of his 77 pitches for strikes, walking four while striking out five.
Maeda lasted just two pitches in his previous start, left with a stomach ache, and struggled on Tuesday.
He started the game with six consecutive balls, and although he got through the first two innings without allowing a hit, he lost the strike zone in the third. He walked three batters, including Winker with the bases loaded, before striking out Eddie Rosario.
The Nationals made it 3-0 in the fifth. Abrams hit an RBI triple and scored on Thomas’ error pop-up behind first. Mark Canha made a running catch, but Abrams easily beat the throw.
However, Parker lost himself in the bottom half of the inning. He misplayed Andy Ibanez’s routine two-out grounder, then walked Canha to load the bases.
Riley Greene hit a 1-2 fastball off the right-center field wall for a three-run triple, then scored the go-ahead run when Luis Garcia Jr.’s relay throw. sailed past third base.
The Nationals took advantage of two Tigers errors to tie the game on Ildemaro Vargas’ sacrifice fly.
