Tigers clinch playoffs with strong pitching, down Red Sox

Jahmai Jones went 2-for-4 with a two-RBI single in the fifth inning, leading the Detroit Tigers to a 2-1, postseason-clinching win over the host Boston Red Sox on Saturday afternoon.

The leadoff-hitting designated hitter has been a spark for the Tigers (87-74) this week, going 7-for-15 with five RBI across his last six games.

Keider Montero, who was not announced as the starting pitcher before the series, struck out seven across 4 1/3 innings of one-run ball.

Four Tigers relievers combined to allow just two hits the rest of the way, with Tyler Holton (6-5) earning credit for the win after 1 1/3 innings of no-hit ball.

Will Vest went 1-2-3 for the save, his 23rd.

Nick Sogard had the lone RBI and was one of seven different players to record a hit for Boston (88-73).

Neither team had an extra-base hit in the game.

The Red Sox strung together three hits to take a 1-0 lead in the second. After Ceddanne Rafaela's leadoff single into shallow center and a Carlos Narvaez knock put runners on the corners, Sogard lined a hard RBI single through the middle.

The inning could have turned into more, but Tigers shortstop Javier Baez made a diving catch into the shallow outfield to take a hit away from David Hamilton and end the inning.

Boston's Connelly Early (1-2) helped the run stand up as he retired 13 consecutive Detroit batters after Jones' leadoff single to start the game, including two strikeouts in each of the first two frames and seven in total through the stretch.

The visitors got to the left-hander in the fifth, though, as Dillon Dingler's one-out single off the left-field wall ended the hitless stretch. Baez singled and Parker Meadows walked to load the bases, and Jones continued his hot week with a two-run single into left field to flip the score.

Early was charged with the loss after five innings of two-run ball to go along with seven strikeouts.

Following Early's start, Payton Tolle and Chris Murphy held Detroit off the board. Murphy allowed just one hit over three scoreless innings.

-- Field Level Media