Tigers lose ‘very rare’ 1-0 game vs. Red Sox at Fenway Park

Boston — Can’t lose at home. Can’t win on the road.

The Tigers are establishing a very unhealthy pattern early this season. Coming off six straight wins at Comerica Park, they rode an eight-game road losing streak into Fenway Park Friday night.

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Make it nine straight road losses.

Scoreless through regulation, the Boston Red Sox scratched across a run in the bottom of the 10th inning to take the opener of a four-game series, 1-0.

“We don’t look at it like that,” said catcher Dillon Dingler of the home-road contrast. “We played a tough game tonight. Just not a ton of hitting. I left three guys out there myself.”

Dingler nearly ended the game-winning threat before it started. With speedy Jarren Duran at second as the free runner, reliever Will Vest threw a pitch in the dirt. Duran got a good break off second but Dingler pounced on the ball and threw a seed to third base.

It would have been a bang-bang play, but third baseman Hao-Yu Lee, in his big-league debut, was unable to catch the throw.

“I don’t know how that play would’ve gone,” manager AJ Hinch said.

Vest struck out Ceddanne Rafaela, then with one out, Hinch brought Javier Báez in from center field, using a five-infielder, two-outfielder alignment against Red Sox lefty-swinging pinch-hitter Masataka Yoshida.

“Our backs were against the wall,” he said. “We were hoping he hits it at somebody. He ended up chopping it over the infield.”

Yoshida’s high-bouncer went over the infielders’ heads and ended the game, leaving the Tigers to rue their two missed chances late in the game.

BOX SCORE: Red Sox 1, Tigers 0 (10)

The Tigers put runners at second and third against Aroldis Chapman with two outs in the top of the ninth. Jahmai Jones ripped a double into the left-field corner, sending rookie Kevin McGonigle (safe on a fielder’s choice) to third.

But Champman punched out Dingler with back-to-back heaters — 100 mph and 101 mph.

They stranded the free runner in the top of the 10th against right-handed reliever Garrett Whitlock, too. With Dingler at third and one out, Wenceel Perez struck out and Spencer Torkelson grounded out to short.

Hinch had left-handed hitters Kerry Carpenter and Colt Keith available on the bench.

“Obviously we were looking for contact (from Perez),” he said. “Generally, Whitlock is going to keep the ball down. (Perez) just chased at the end.”

But, as Hinch said, there was a lot more going on than just the 10th inning.

“I mean, a zero-zero game at Fenway in the 10th inning?” Hinch said. “That’s a game that’s very rare around here.”

Credit starting pitchers Casey Mize and Red Sox lefty Ranger Suarez for that. They put on a show, impressively trading outs in their own unique style.

The Tigers got two singles off Suarez in the first inning and then nothing over the next seven.

Mize, with a four-seam fastball that was hitting 96 mph that greatly enhanced the effectiveness of his splitter and slider, allowed three hits through 6.2 innings.

“Casey was incredible,” Hinch said. “I told him afterward, that was the best combination of stuff, execution and the way his body was moving. He was excellent. Unfortunately, so was their guy.”

Said Dingler: “Robin (Lund, assistant pitching coach) said Casey’s slider strike percentage was 93 percent. He was dominating that outer rail with all three of his pitches. It was fun to catch. He made my job easier.”

The third hit, a two-out infield single in the seventh, ended Mize’s night. But he was brilliant. He struck out seven with one walk. He got 14 whiffs on 42 swings and 16 called strikes.  

“We had a good game plan,” said Mize, who dominated a lot of the same Red Sox hitters last September at Fenway. “I was able to execute at a pretty high clip tonight. I felt like I was moving well and the ball was coming out well. When you execute, more times than not you are going to have nights like this.”

Suarez, meanwhile, was mixing changeups, curveballs and cutters off his 91-mph sinker and getting the Tigers’ hitters to beat the ball in the ground. Nine ground ball outs and nothing but weak contact.  

“There’s a reason he signed a deal with these guys,” said Mize of Suarez’s five-year, $130 million deal with the Red Sox. “He’s a really good pitcher and it made it tough on our team and on myself, knowing I was going to have to match him zero for zero.”

McGonigle singled with one out in the first and Jones followed, belting a line drive off the Green Monster in right field. McGonigle breezed into third but center fielder Rafaela played the carom expertly and threw out Jones at second base.

“Once he settled in, he was in and around the zone just enough,” Hinch said. “The ball never moved the same way twice. He’s tough.”

The Tigers’ only runner after the first against Suarez was Dingler, who drew a two-out walk in the fourth.

Suarez set down 13 straight hitters after that through the eighth.

Dingler, besides calling a smart pitch-mix for Mize, helped out with two defensive plays befitting a Gold Glove catcher. He ended the second inning by pouncing on a topper in front of the plate to retire Rafaela. Dingler ran through Rafaela to get the ball, knocking him out of the base path.

He took Rafaela off the bases again in the fifth. This time, he threw him out at second trying to steal second base. The throw was perfect, an 87-mph dart that popped into the glove of shortstop McGonigle in 1.85 seconds.

“Ding is such an influence behind the plate,” Hinch said. “It starts with the game-calling. And he threw it well tonight. We know they’re going to be aggressive. They have a ton of athleticism and speed. And Ding is a big weapon for us to stop it.”

Friday was the big-league debut for Tigers’ infielder Hao-Yu Lee. He went hitless in three at-bats against Suarez, though he did drive a ball to track in right-center field the Rafaela ran down in the fifth.

Playing third base, he ended seventh inning fielding a ground ball behind the bag at third and throwing across the diamond to retire Rafaela and stranding a runner at second. First baseman Spencer Torkelson made an outstanding scoop on Lee’s low throw.

Lee’s throwing error in the bottom of the ninth extended the inning but caused no damage.

“It’s a big stage,” Hinch said. “I think he handled himself well.”

For Mize, it was his third start this season where he allowed one run or less. The Tigers are 1-2 in those three starts.

“Yeah, you know, I feel good,” he said. “I feel fine. But we’ve got to translate them into wins. That’s what I care about the most.”

Chris.McCosky@detroitnews.com

@cmccosky