DETROIT — Justin Verlander struck out 13 batters and sent the Pirates to a 6-5 loss against the Detroit Tigers at Comerica Park on a rainy Monday afternoon.
Jhonny Peralta had four hits and drove in three runs.
Neil Walker doubled and tripled, scoring a run and driving in another for the Pirates.
Verlander (6-4) allowed three runs on seven hits in seven innings. After the Pirates scored one off Verlander in the first, he shut them out until the seventh.
The Pirates fought back against Verlander and Joaquin Benoit in the seventh and eighth, but a walk-filled outing by Jose Contreras caused the Pirates’ late rally to fall short.
Francisco Liriano (3-1) allowed four runs on eight hits in five innings. He had only allowed two runs in 18 innings in his first three starts.
On the eighth pitch of Walker’s at-bat in the first inning, he tripled to the wall in center field, no small feat at Comerica Park. Andrew McCutchen flied out to right, and Walker broke for home. Torii Hunter wheeled and threw, hitting catcher Brayan Pena on the fly, but the throw was barely too late.
The Tigers used three consecutive singles to tie it in the fourth. Prince Fielder and Victor Martinez singled to start the inning to put runners on first and third, and Peralta’s hit scored a run. Liriano then induced three ground-ball outs that ended the inning and stranded the runners.
Martinez broke the tie in the fifth. Hunter walked and Fielder blooped a single to left field. Martinez lined a double down the left-field line that kicked off part of the wall that jutted toward the field, allowing the slow-footed Fielder to score from first. Peralta’s soft double down the right-field line scored Martinez and gave the Tigers a 4-1 lead.
Verlander struck out nine batters through the first five innings, four of them looking. He stifled an opportunity in the fourth, after Garrett Jones doubled and Russell Martin walked on four pitches. He struck out Alvarez looking for the second time, then struck out Gaby Sanchez to end the inning.
Two Pirates runs in the seventh cut the Tigers’ lead to one. Sanchez led off with a double. Verlander retired Brandon Inge and Clint Barmes quickly, but Travis Snider hit an RBI triple off the wall in right-center field.
Neil Walker doubled down the right-field line, his second extra-base hit of the day, to score Snider. With Walker on second, Verlander struck out Andrew McCutchen on a 3-2 curve in the dirt.
Jose Contreras walked four batters in one-third of an inning in the bottom of the seventh, allowing the Tigers to extend their lead to 6-3. Peralta hit another RBI single and Contreras walked in a run with the bases loaded.
The Pirates scored two in the eighth inning and had a chance for more, but a base-running mistake killed the rally.
Jones doubled and scored when Russell Martin’s grounder scooted under Fielder’s glove. The play was ruled an error. Sanchez’s double scored Martin. Josh Harrison pinch-ran for Sanchez, but Harrison leaned toward third base as Joaquin Benoit whirled to second and Benoit picked him off. Brandon Inge struck out looking to end the inning.
