Sale denied AL-best 10th victory by Tigers

DETROIT — Mike Pelfrey’s first win as a Tiger came at the expense of White Sox ace Chris Sale, whose latest frustrating loss in Detroit was in part due to J.D. Martinez’s go-ahead two-run homer in the sixth inning in a 7-4 Tigers victory Saturday at Comerica Park.

Both Sale and Pelfrey settled down from early runs to trade zeros in a surprise pitching duel. Pelfrey, 0-4 for his career against the White Sox, didn’t allow a runner into scoring position after Adam Eaton tripled and scored in the second to give Chicago a 2-1 lead. Pelfrey (1-5) tossed six innings of two-run ball, putting himself in line for his first win since last Aug. 12.

Sale held the lead until old nemesis Victor Martinez singled with one out in the sixth. J.D. Martinez, who drove in Detroit’s opening run with a first-inning sacrifice fly, sent Sale’s next pitch out to left for his 12th home run. Cameron Maybin added a run with an RBI single in the seventh, and Mike Aviles’ bunt RBI single was part of a three-run eighth to finish the Tigers’ scoring.

It was the second loss in three starts for Sale (9-2), who had won his first nine outings of the year. He fell to 7-6 in his career against the Tigers.

MOMENTS THAT MATTEREDPut it in the book: Before Saturday’s game, J.D. Martinez talked about scaling back his well-known notetaking of …

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