DETROIT (AP) — Spencer Torkelson and Andy Ibañez homered, and the Detroit Tigers beat the San Diego Padres 3-1 on Sunday to avoid a weekend sweep.
Alex Faedo (2-4), who entered with a 6.98 ERA, pitched six shutout innings for Detroit. The right-hander allowed one hit and walked four.
“That lineup has guys one through nine who can not only put the ball out of the park but put it in the gap and do everything with the stick,” Faedo said. “You have to stay out of the middle of the plate, so that was kind of my approach.”
Tigers manager A.J. Hinch was impressed by his young starter's poise against one of baseball's most dangerous lineups.
“We asked a lot from him today and he delivered,” he said. “He’s seen the damage the last couple of days and he knows the names in that lineup. He stayed locked in, even after a couple of misfires, and got some big outs.”
Beau Brieske and Jason Foley each worked an inning before Alex Lange pitched a rainy ninth for his 17th save. With runners on second and third, Lange retired Gary Sánchez on a fly ball to center for the final out.
Detroit was outscored 19-7 in the first two games of the series.
“To tell you the truth, this was a pretty disappointing effort," Padres manager Bob Melvin said. “Nothing against their starter, but we have got to have a better approach and put more pressure on him. Our bats looked better against the plus relievers they had in at the end.”
San Diego right-hander Joe Musgrove (9-3) lost for the first time since May 20, a span of 10 starts. He permitted three runs and seven hits in six innings.
“Joe probably wasn't as good as we've seen him, but six innings and three runs gives us a chance to win,” Melvin said. “We can't be satisfied with winning series at this point — we have to win games.”
The Tigers jumped in front when Torkelson connected for his 15th homer in the first. Ibañez connected on the first pitch of the third, and Kerry Carpenter added an RBI single later in the inning.
Detroit turned three double plays in the first six innings, allowing Faedo to pitch around his walks.
“The defense saved my outing and probably won the game for us,” Faedo said. “Three double plays and some great plays in the outfield — it was nuts.”
Sánchez made it 3-1 with an RBI single against Brieske in the seventh.
