BOSTON — After giving up a combined 17 earned runs over his previous three starts, Matt Manning was in need of a pick-me-up outing.
Making his first career start at Fenway Park and facing a Red Sox lineup stacked with six left-handed hitters, the right-hander had his work cut out for him on Saturday afternoon.
Manning responded with 5 1/3 strong innings, holding Boston to one unearned run on two hits in Detroit’s 6-2 win to even the series. It was the third time in his career Manning allowed two hits or fewer and no earned runs over five or more innings.
“I told myself coming into it, ‘Put the result aside, you’re pitching at Fenway for the first time. It’s the stuff young ballplayers dream of,’” Manning said. “So it was just a really good experience.”
Through his recent skid, Manning began scrutinizing his pitch arsenal and worked to counter opponents’ adjustments. He entered Saturday’s start wanting to throw more fastballs and stay inside. Despite only generating one strikeout, Manning was effective in following his game plan.
In an at-bat against Red Sox outfielder Jarren Duran in the second inning, Manning didn’t waiver, throwing the lefty five straight fastballs before Duran flied out to left.
“He was very stubborn with strikes and was very aggressive, which I like that he did that,” manager A.J. Hinch said. “He had a lot of triple-ups, a lot of four pitches in a row. He tried to go to some weaknesses. And he hung in there mentally.”
Of his 90 pitches on Saturday, Manning threw 51 four-seam fastballs and generated 27 swings and five whiffs on the pitch.
Though his 18.5 percent whiff rate on the four-seamer against the Red Sox was comparable to what it was in his previous three starts, the biggest difference came in exit velocity. Over those three starts, opponents had an average exit velocity of 96.2 mph on Manning’s four-seamer. On Saturday? Just 83 mph.
Manning’s biggest challenge came in the second, when he walked two of the first three batters, prompting a mound visit from pitching coach Chris Fetter. Manning responded by retiring the next two batters, lefties Duran and Reese McGuire.
“That’s big. That’s Matty,” said catcher Eric Haase, who snapped a 33-game homerless skid with a solo shot in the fifth. “Might be around the zone a little bit and then get right back in there and make some good pitches and just keep us in the ballgame. He was missing barrels all day, and that was just another quality start from him.”
“We scored in the top of the second inning. [Manning] comes out, walks the leadoff hitter, doesn’t concede anything, doesn’t cave,” Hinch said. “Runs into a little bit of trouble in the middle of their order and hung in there. Getting through that inning I think really set him up nicely for the remainder of the game.”
The Red Sox didn’t record a hit off Manning until Justin Turner’s single to lead off the fourth inning. Turner came around to score later in the frame after an error by third baseman Nick Maton allowed Pablo Reyes to reach base with two outs.
Manning was backed by a four-homer night from his offense, the first time the Tigers have done so at Fenway since Aug. 26, 2005. Kerry Carpenter homered for the second time in as many days to open the scoring in the second, before Haase hit his fourth blast of the season. As part of his first career four-hit game, Spencer Torkelson mashed a Statcast-projected 417-foot shot to center field in the sixth. Carpenter added his second homer of the game in the eighth.
“That was a really good offensive plan, execution, results,” Hinch said. “Outside of not capitalizing on a couple two-run, three-run homers where we could have separated ourselves. … I mean, who could complain about four homers and a good win in a tough ballpark with a lot of contributions from guys?”