Boston Red Sox

Slumping Red Sox fall to Tigers 8-1

Red Sox starter Martin Perez was bounced in the second inning, allowing three runs on five hits.

Xander Bogaerts and the Red Sox have struggled offensively over the last week. AP Photo/Paul Sancya

DETROIT (AP) — Victor Reyes tripled twice and drove in three runs, Tarik Skubal pitched five scoreless innings, and the Detroit Tigers beat the Boston Red Sox 8-1 on Thursday.

Skubal (7-10) allowed five hits and struck out four. He had surrendered six home runs in 10 2/3 innings during his last two starts.

Robbie Grossman hit a leadoff homer in the bottom of the first. He departed the game prior to the third with a left elbow contusion after getting hit by a pitch.

Jonathan Schoop contributed two hits and two RBIs for Detroit. Miguel Cabrera went 0-for-4 with a walk and remained two homers shy of 500.

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The Red Sox lost for the sixth time in seven games and dropped 1 1/2 games behind idle Tampa Bay in the AL East.

Boston starter Martin Perez (7-8) equaled his shortest outing of the season, allowing three runs on five hits in 1 1/3 innings. Alex Verdugo had two hits and drove in the lone Red Sox run.

Grossman blasted an 0-2 pitch for his 17th home run.

Detroit extended its lead to 3-0 in the third. Reyes led off with a triple and scored on Zack Short’s sacrifice fly. Schoop added a bases-loaded groundout.

Jeimer Candelario’s RBI ground-rule double and Reyes’ two-run triple in the fifth gave the Tigers a 6-0 advantage.

ROSTER MOVES

Red Sox: OF Delino DeShields Jr. was acquired from Texas for cash considerations and assigned to Triple-A Worcester. He was batting .263 with five home runs and 16 stolen bases in 66 games with Triple-A Round Rock this season. DeShields has appeared in 576 major league games.

UP NEXT

Red Sox: RHP Nathan Eovaldi (9-6, 3.71 ERA) will start the opener of a four-game series at Toronto on Friday. Eovaldi will be seeking his first victory since July 1. He held the Blue Jays scoreless in 6 2/3 innings on June 14.

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Tigers: RHP Matt Manning (2-4, 5.59 ERA) will start the opener of a three-game series at Cleveland on Friday. Manning was rocked for nine runs in 3 2/3 innings at Cleveland on June 28.

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