Fulmer then gave up back-to-back homers on what he felt were well-located sliders. Scooter Gennett, who badly missed a Fulmer slider earlier in the at-bat, golfed a two-run shot over the right-field wall. Eugenio Suarez followed with a blast over the left-field wall.
Fulmer wound up with his sixth loss of the season.
He’ll hope for some better luck in a Thursday matinee against the Oakland Athletics.
The Tigers will be trying to break an eight-game losing streak after dropping the first three games of the series while Oakland will attempt to get its first four-game sweep of Detroit since 2001.
“Last start, everything was kind of on cruise control and then Gennett hit a good pitch out,” Fulmer said. “But people don’t see the pitch, they see the results. They look at the linescore and that’s it.
“They don’t see that my fastball velo is up, my sinker’s moving more, my slider has been a lot sharper as of late,” Fulmer continued. “That’s the problem from a player’s standpoint and a spectator’s standpoint. ‘Oh, he gave up two home runs in one inning last start, it wasn’t a very good start.’ Don’t worry about the other five innings where I did really well. Sometimes, people don’t think just to give the hitters credit.”
Fulmer (3-6 http://www.oaklandraidersteamonline.com/trayvon-mullen-jersey , 4.17 ERA) limited Minnesota and Cleveland to one run in seven innings in each of his previous two outings. He’s throwing as hard as ever, with his four-seamer and sinker averaging over 97 mph this month.
Other than his changeup being a little faster than he’d like, Fulmer believes he’s in top form.
“I’m not frustrated with the way I pitched or my stuff,” said Fulmer, who is 2-0 with an 0.57 ERA in two career starts against Oakland. “I’m frustrated with the results and that’s the way it’s kind of been for me so far this season. I’m still very positive. I still trust everything, I feel like we’re very close to being dominant for a full game.”
The Tigers could certainly use one of those outings.
Left-hander Sean Manaea (7-6, 3.40 ERA) will oppose Fulmer after having his scheduled start pushed back a day. He has delivered three consecutive quality starts following a rough patch in May. Manaea allowed four or more earned runs in five of his six May starts but he’s held opponents to a combined six runs in his last three outings.
“I was trying to be too perfect and it was causing me to overthink things,” he said. “Now, I’m trying to keep things simple.”
Manaea has walked just one batter in those three starts while collecting 17 strikeouts. He held the Chicago White Sox to one run on five hits in seven innings during his last start. He lost his only career start against Detroit while giving up three runs in six innings.
Oakland’s streak of hitting a homer in 27 consecutive road games, a major league record, ended on Wednesday but it still came away with a 3-0 victory. Jed Lowrie has seven hits in the series, including two homers and two doubles.
Aaron Hicks hit three home runs and the New York Yankees pummeled David Price again http://www.oaklandraidersteamonline.com/isaiah-johnson-jersey , connecting five times in the first four innings Sunday night on the way to an 11-1 rout of the Boston Red Sox.
Luis Severino became the first 13-game winner in the majors, cruising through 6 2/3 shutout innings of two-hit ball after the Bronx Bombers quickly built him a big cushion. With the teams trading blowouts all weekend, the Yankees (54-27) took two of three from their longtime rivals to regain baseball’s best record and first place in the AL East.
Batting leadoff against a left-hander, Hicks homered twice from the right side of the plate and once from the left. He smacked a two-run shot to right field in the second inning and a solo drive to center in the fourth that chased Price (9-6) and made it 8-0.
Hicks pulled his 14th of the season into the right-field stands in the eighth off Hector Velazquez. It was the first three-homer game by a Yankees player since Alex Rodriguez, part of the ESPN broadcast team Sunday night, accomplished the feat at Minnesota in July 2015.
CUBS 11, TWINS 10
CHICAGO (AP) – Jon Lester hit a three-run homer in an eight-run second inning and wound up with his NL-leading 11th victory.
Ian Happ also homered for the Cubs. They have scored at least 10 runs in four straight games for the first time since 1930. Chicago swept the three-game series and has won four in a row overall.
Lester (11-2) allowed four runs, two of them earned, and nine hits in five-plus innings.
Javier Baez, who doubled twice, Happ and Willson Contreras each had three hits.
Mitch Garver hit a two-run homer off reliever Dillon Maples in the Twins’ five-run eighth.
Cubs closer Brandon Morrow got one out in the eighth and pitched a scoreless ninth for his 18th save in 19 chances. Lance Lynn (5-7) was the loser.
Brian Dozier hit a two-run homer and Jake Cave also homered for the Twins.
The Rays went 8-1 at Tropicana Field, taking three of four from the World Series champion Astros, sweeping three from the New York Yankees and winning both games against Washington. Tampa Bay set a team record by allowing no more than two runs in its sixth straight game.
Matt Duffy hit a two-out, two-run single in the seventh inning that put the Rays ahead 2-1 and Mallex Smith homered in the eighth. Evan Gattis homered twice for Houston.
Snell (11-4) allowed one run and four hits in 7 1/3 innings.
Charlie Morton (10-2) struck out 11 in 6 2/3 innings.
DODGERS 6, ROCKIES 4
LOS ANGELES (AP) – Matt Kemp had three hits and drove in four runs, including a go-ahead homer leading off the eighth inning that rallied Los Angeles past Colorado to prevent a sweep.
Kemp sent his 14th homer of the season over the center-field wall off Adam Ottavino (4-2) to put Los Angeles ahead 5-4. It was the Dodgers’ first homer of July after they hit a major league-leading and franchise-record 55 in June.
One out later, Yasiel Puig doubled and Joc Pederson followed and reached on an infield single to second. Puig ran hard into third and hopped back and forth before taking off for the plate, sliding belly first. He got up and swung his arms in wild celebration with the Dodgers ahead 6-4.
Kemp drove in the Dodgers’ first three runs with an RBI groundout in the first, a double in the third and a single in the fifth.
Daniel Hudson (3-2) went one inning. Kenley Jansen pitched a perfect ninth for his 22nd save.
Nolan Arenado hit his 21st homer and had an RBI grounder for the Rockies.
The Giants had 11 hits in the first five innings and cruised to their seventh win in eight games.
A four-run fifth inning highlighted by Pence’s double off reliever Silvino Bracho gave the Giants an 8-3 lead. Cory Gearrin (1-1) got one out in the fourth to earn the win in relief of starter Derek Holland.
The Giants tagged Diamondbacks starter Zack Godley (9-6) for seven runs on nine hits in four-plus innings, ending his four-game winning streak.
Arizona rallied with two runs in the seventh on Paul Goldschmidt’s 18th home run of the season, and Jarrod Dyson became the eighth player in team history to record at least two hits, two runs batted in and two stolen bases in a single game. The Diamondbacks brought the tying run to the plate in the ninth with two outs, but Will Smith struck out Jake Lamb for Smith’s second save.
ORIOLES 8, ANGELS 2
BALTIMORE (AP) – Manny Machado and Mark Trumbo hit consecutive homers after the Angels lost a popup in the sun, and Baltimore beat Los Angeles to end a seven-game losing streak.
After the Orioles took charge with a six-run fourth inning, Trumbo homered again in the fifth and Trey Mancini also connected to help Baltimore secure its only victory during a seven-game homestand that began with four straight losses to Seattle. The Orioles improved to 1-15 against the AL West and won at home for only the second time in 19 games since May 13.
Kevin Gausman (4-6) weathered temperatures in the upper 90s to go eight innings, allowing two runs and six hits to end a run of eight straight winless starts.
Kole Calhoun homered and Albert Pujols drove in a run for the Angels.