Longer than necessary, but beggars can’t be choosers. 

Tigers 8, Rays 6 (11 innings)

After an off day and some time to take stock of the rapidly changing AL Central landscape, the Tigers turned to Max Scherzer (26 GS, 176 IP, 3.07 ERA, 2.81 FIP, 4.7 fWAR) to right the ship. With the way this stretch has been going, Scherzer surrendering a three run bomb to James Loney in the first inning made too much sense. Max got his act together, however, allowing one more run and really locking in as the game went on. He ended up going seven, allowing four runs, and punching out nine Rays. The bats rallied big time in the 5th with three hits, two ROEs, and a walk to pull within one and then Davis scored Avila to tie it in the 6th. The big hit was a JD Martinez go-ahead home run in the 8th, but you know this story so it wasn’t unexpected when Joba allowed the equalizer. In extras, specifically the 11th, Balfour did lots of walking and the Tigers took the lead and added a couple more. It was Nathan time and he welcomed a run before ending it. Rick Porcello (23 GS, 156.1 IP, 3.28 ERA, 3.66 FIP, 2.6 fWAR) gets the ball Wednesday.

The Moment: JD Martinez gives the Tigers the lead with a big home run.