Pratt's Instant Replay: Tigers 12, Athletics 2

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DETROIT -- Entering a pivotal 10-game road trip the Oakland A's got battered by the Detroit Tigers at Comerica Park. The 12-2 loss is the largest losing margin for Oakland this season. Their previous worst defeat was a 10-1 loss in Baltimore.A.J. Griffin was undefeated entering Tuesday night and was handed his first loss of the season.At the PlateThe A's scored an early run off Tigers' starting pitcher Max Scherzer after a two-out rally. Josh Reddick singled, Yoenis Cespedes walked, and Brandon Moss drove Reddick home to put the A's up 1-0. Scherzer pitched the second inning and then left the game with just 44 pitches due to right shoulder fatigue.Scherzer leads the American League with 224 strikeouts and was 10-1 in his last 14 starts. At the time it seemed like the the A's lineup dodged a major bullet in not having to face a healthy Scherzer.The A's had some health issues of their own. Coco Crisp was pulled from the game in the fourth inning with a complication from his lingering eye issues. Chris Carter pinch hit for him with runners on the corners and one out. Carter grounded into an inning-ending double play. Carter remained in the game at first base, Reddick moved to center field, and Moss moved to right field.In the fifth inning Moss hit a broken-bat blooper that landed between three Tigers. He raced to second base as Prince Fielder sprinted to second base to try and cover the bag. Moss beat the throw with a slide and avoided getting flattened by a sliding Fielder as Cespedes ran to third base. With two outs and runners now on second and third Stephen Drew flew out to center field to end the inning.In Drew's first three plate appearances he went 0 for 3 with two strikeouts and stranded six base runners.The A's plated another run in the seventh inning. Reddick doubled on a ball that left fielder Quintin Berry made a diving attempt on. Berry left the game with a right shoulder injury. Cespedes followed with an RBI single. He was initially awarded second base because a fan interfered with the ball, but since he slipped out of the batters box when he hit the ball he was told to go back to first base. A's manager Bob Melvin argued the call but lost.Starting Pitching ReportThe first batter Griffin faced hit a liner back at him. He got his glove on the ball but it bounced right out upon impact. The aforementioned batter was Austin Jackson and he ended up coming around to score on a sacrifice fly hit by Miguel Cabrera in the first inning to even the score at one apiece. Somewhat of a bad break for Griffin. It would become abundantly clear that this just wasn't his night. Griffin left a 3-1 fastball a bit high against Jhonny Peralta in the second inning and paid the price. The ball was hit about two rows deep into the right field stands. Peralta's 12th homer of the year made it a 2-1 game.With a 2-0 count Griffin threw a perfect 68 MPH curveball to Miguel Cabrera for a called strike. Three pitches later he tried to fool him again with his big breaking curveball and Cabrera practically hit the ball to Canada. Cabrera's 39th homer gave the Tigers a 3-1 lead in the third inning.He gave up a two-run line-drive homer to Fielder that made it a 5-1 game in the fifth inning. Griffin exited the game with 100 pitches over four and two-thirds innings of work. He doesn't often give up the long ball but he gave up a career-high three homers and five runs in Detroit. He had only allowed one home run in his previous seven starts.Bullpen ReportPedro Figueroa entered in relief of Griffin in the fifth inning. He struck out the only batter he faced and left the game.Evan Scribner started the sixth inning. He allowed three runs on two walks and two hits. Austin Jackson and Quintin Berry hit back-to-back doubles with runners on base making it 8-1.Jesse Chavez pitched a three up, three down seventh inning. He got lit up in the eighth inning, though. He allowed three consecutive hits before allowing a grand slam to Miguel Cabrera. The slam made it 12-2 and it was Cabrera's 40th home of the season. Chavez hit Fielder on a 1-2 pitch after the grand slam and was ejected from the game. Melvin wasn't happy with the call by home plate umpire Jerry Meals as it didn't appear to be intentional. Chavez has allowed nine runs in his three games with the A's.AttendanceThe Tigers announced an attendance of 31,243.Up NextIf you are a fan of pitching you'll probably enjoy Wednesday's match up. Cy YoungMVP Justin Verlander (14-8, 2.82 ERA) takes on Brett Anderson (4-1, 1.93 ERA). Anderson became the first A's starting pitcher since Dave Stewart in 1990 to start the season by earning a win in each of his first four starts.

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