Tigers’ 5-homer barrage deflates Reds
Another team with a subpar record popped up on the schedule Friday night, giving the Cincinnati Reds high hopes for victory.
The Detroit Tigers, nine games under .500 and losers in five of their previous six games, dashed those hopes by assaulting starter Vladimir Gutierrez and the Reds bullpen for a 15-5 romp in Great American Ball Park.
The Tigers crushed five home runs, two by catcher Dustin Garneau, the No. 8 hitter who had one home run in the last year and a half.
The much-too-often bad work by the bullpen was as bad as it gets Friday with 11 runs and 14 hits allowed in 5 2/3 innings.
The Tigers scored six runs in the sixth and four in the seventh against the bullpen on their way to 18 hits. And the Reds contributed to Detroit’s run-happy night with shoddy defense, including errors by Gutierrez and third baseman Mike Moustakas.
It was Cincinnati’s fifth loss in six games and they lost a game in the wild card standings to St. Louis, which crept to within 1 1/2 games of the Reds by beating Milwaukee. Philadelphia lost to Miami and remains 2 1/2 behind the Reds. San Diego failed to move into a tie with the Reds, losing to Houston.
Detroit hit Gutierrez hard, four runs and four hits in 3 1/3 innings, Jonathan Schoop homered in the third and
Jeimer Candelerio homered in the fourth. When Victor Reyes doubled with one out, manager David Bell lifted Gutierrez. Tony Santillan struck out the next two and pitched a scoreless fifth, holding the deficit to 4-3.
“I was a little bit surprised,” Gutierrez said of his quick hook. “I saw behind me that the bullpen was warming up and I said, ‘OK, I just have to continue with my own game.’ Just because the bullpen is warming up I’m not going to get uncontrollable with what’s going on.
“After the double (catcher) Tyler Stephenson came up to me and said, ‘Are you doing all right?’ And I said, ‘Yeah, I’m fine. Let’s go do this.’
“Then I saw the manager come out. He was doing his job. Then I felt a little frustrated as any pitcher is who gets taken out of the game.”
Shortly thereafter, the carnage began.
“Vladdy didn’t have his best stuff, didn’t have his fastball,” said Bell. “On the homers, we just didn’t see any of his pitches that we’ve seen when he was good.”
Of the home runs, Gutierrez said, “The home run to Jeimer Candelerio I tried to throw a change-up and it seemed like he was waiting for it. And the other home run (Schoop’s) was a curveball and it seemed like he was waiting on that one, too. It just didn’t happen tonight.”
Then came Justin Wilson, Mychal Givens, Jeff Hoffman and Amir Garrett. In two innings, the Tigers scored 10 runs on 11 hits.
The Tigers scored six runs on eight hits in the sixth off those three pitchers, including Garneau’s first homer, a two-run blast.
They scored four more in the seventh off Hoffman, punctuated by Garneau’s second home run, a solo rip, and a three-run blast by Robbie Grossman.
They added another run on two hits in the eighth off Garrett. The Reds had a chance to take command in the fifth. They trailed, 4-1, when Jonathan India drilled a two-run home run, his 18th. And they had runners on third and second with one out, but Joey Votto and Eugenio Suarez fanned.