Detroit Tigers fall to .500 with 5-2 loss to Houston Astros

It wasn’t perfect, but Detroit Tigers right-hander Casey Mize fought his way through six innings.

The leadoff hitter reached safely in five of his six innings, and Mize recorded only two strikeouts, but when he left the mound for the final time, the Tigers had the lead and were in position to win the match.

The Tigers, however, wasted Mize’s effort in a 5-2 loss to the Houston Astros in the first game Friday of a three-game set at Comerica Park. The Tigers wore their City Connect uniforms for the first time in Friday’s game, and they will wear them again for Saturday’s game.

The new “electric blue” threads have not resulted in a better version of the Tigers.

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The Tigers (19-19), who finished 1 for 10 with runners in scoring position, lost six of seven games, falling to .500 for the first time this season.

Mize allowed just one run on five hits and two walks with two strikeouts, throwing 88 pitches.

Left-handed reliever Andrew Chafin and right-handed reliever Jason Foley were responsible for allowing the other four runs in the eighth inning, with the first three runs being charged to Chafin’s score.

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The first three batters of the Astros’ four-run eighth inning reached safely against Chafin: Jose Altuve singled, Kyle Tucker drew a walk and Yordan Alvarez also singled, tying the game at 2 -2.

The fourth batter of the inning reached Foley safely, when Jeremy Peña hit a sinker from the second pitch – clocked at just 94.8 mph on the radar gun and located in the middle of the strike zone – for a single to center , which brings the score to 3-2.

The Astros extended their lead to 5-2 on Alex Bregman’s fielder’s choice and Yainer Diaz’s sacrifice fly.

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Casey Mize is competing

Mize walked the first two batters Friday, putting Altuve on base on seven pitches and Tucker on five. But Mize bounced back by retiring the next three batters: Alvarez (out), Peña (strikeout) and Jon Singleton (groundout).

A similar situation occurred in the second inning, when Mize gave up a double to Bregman but fired the next three batters. He allowed a leadoff single to Peña in the fourth, then fired the next three batters. In the fifth, Mize worked around a first single by Victor Caratini.

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The third round was the only three up, three down from Mize’s six-inning outing.

In the sixth, Tucker launched a leadoff home run on Mize’s second-pitch fastball. He located the 92.1 mph fastball up and down; Tucker – a left-handed hitter – turned on Mize’s slower fastball for a 409-foot solo homer to right field. He torched the ball with an exit velocity of 106 mph.

It was Tucker’s 12th home run in 38 games this season.

Alvarez kept the pressure on Mize with an ensuing single, but Mize helped himself by fielding a Peña grounder and starting a double play. After that, he grounded Singleton out to complete his out.

Mize, who owns a 3.58 ERA in seven starts, generated 10 whiffs in 45 swings — a 22.2 percent whiff rate — with five fastballs, four sliders and a curveball. His fastball averaged 95.5 mph.

Matt Vierling delivers

For the Astros, left-hander Framber Valdez allowed two runs on six hits and two walks with four strikeouts in seven innings.

The Tigers scored both of those runs in the third inning.

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The inning included three consecutive hits, starting with singles by Jake Rogers and Andy Ibáñez. Matt Vierling cashed in by sending Valdez’s first-pitch curveball, a downfield offering, into left field.

Both runners scored for a 2-0 lead.

Mark Canha grounded out, moving Vierling to third base in the process, but Vierling was stranded at the hot corner when Riley Greene withdrew his swing and Spencer Torkelson was knocked out.

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