DETROIT — In the middle of the second-inning, the lights went out at Comerica Park for nearly 20 minutes. DTE Energy said it was the result of cable failure, which began at approximately 4:41 p.m.
The power eventually would return to the lights, but never for the Tigers’ bats, as the Boston Red Sox shut them out 1-0 in Game 3 of the ALCS to take a 2-1 series lead.
Mike Napoli scored the game’s only run when he homered off Tigers starter Justin Verlander in the top of the seventh inning. Four different Boston pitchers would combine to make it stand and pitch the second shutout of the series and first for the Red Sox.
Outside of the Napoli home run, Verlander was nearly perfect. He struck out the side in both the second and third inning. The six consecutive strikeouts tied a MLB Postseason single-game record. Verlander finished the game pitching line of: 8.0 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 10 SO. It’s the sixth time Verlander has reached double-digit strikeouts in a postseason game, a new MLB record.
Unfortunately, the Tigers’ hitters couldn’t even get one run across against Red Sox pitchers, though they had several chances.
Jhonny Peralta led off the fifth inning with a double to left-center and advanced to third when Alex Avila grounded out to second in the next at-bat. But Red Sox starter Jon Lackey struck out Omar Infante and induced an inning-ending ground out from Andy Dirks to keep the game scoreless at the time.
Then in the eighth with the Red Sox leading 1-0, Torii Hunter followed an Austin Jackson walk with a base hit to right that advanced Jackson to third base with one out. But Junichi Tazawa struck out Miguel Cabrera and Koji Uehara came in to strike out Prince Fielder to end the threat.
Victor Martinez led off the ninth-inning with a base hit and was immediately pinch ran for by Hernan Perez. Uehara would get Peralta to ground out into a 6-4-3 double play and then struck out Avila to end game.
Game 4 of the ALCS is Wednesday at Comerica Park. First pitch is set for 8:07 p.m. and the game will be broadcast on FOX.
According to DTE Energy, the power issues were the result of cable failure in the area near the stadium.
