DETROIT (AP) — Victor Martinez hit a two-run homer in the seventh inning and the Detroit Tigers held off David Ortiz and the Red Sox after that, beating Boston 7-6 on Saturday night.
Ortiz had three hits, including a home run in the sixth. His two-run single in the seventh gave Boston a 6-5 lead, but Martinez answered with a long drive down the right-field line off reliever Junichi Tazawa (2-5).
Rajai Davis also homered for the Tigers, and Ian Kinsler and James McCann had three hits apiece. Blaine Hardy (4-2) won in relief.
Bruce Rondon pitched a hitless ninth for his first save of the season. He walked Ortiz with two outs before striking out Pablo Sandoval.
Blake Swihart had three hits for the Red Sox.
The Tigers have gone through a tumultuous couple of weeks. They traded David Price and two other key players before the July 31 deadline, and general manager Dave Dombrowski was let go Tuesday. On Friday, McCann and shortstop Jose Iglesias got into an altercation in the dugout.
Detroit fell behind 2-0 on Saturday but eventually prevailed in an entertaining, back-and-forth game. Davis hit a two-run homer to tie it in the fifth, only to have Ortiz answer with a solo shot in the sixth.
In 54 games at Comerica Park, the Boston slugger has 21 homers, the most by a visiting player.
J.D. Martinez tied it in the bottom of the sixth with an RBI double and later came home on a wild pitch. McCann’s run-scoring double made it 5-3.
With the score 5-4 and the bases loaded with two outs in the seventh, Hardy replaced Detroit starter Alfredo Simon. Ortiz grounded a single up the middle to put the Red Sox back ahead.
But Victor Martinez, after pulling a couple of hard line drives foul, connected off Tazawa to give the Tigers the lead for good.
Trainer’s room
Red Sox: LF Hanley Ramirez was a late scratch because of a sore left foot. … Boston was without closer Koji Uehara, hit on his pitching arm by a line drive the previous night. Manager John Farrell said it might be a stretch to bring Uehara back at all this weekend.
Tigers: Simon, who has dealt with a groin issue lately, threw 98 pitches.
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