Resilient Sox Rally, Then Choke for First Loss

Boston won't go 162-0, it seems. After Friday's 6-5 loss to Detroit, they may just settle for a couple of flu shots.

The shorthanded Red Sox made an unlikely game of things, even getting the tying run 90 feet away with two outs in the ninth inning. But Chris Young struck out against Francisco Rodriguez as the Sox suffered their first loss of the 2017 season.

It seemed like as sleepy a Friday afternoon performance imaginable until the eighth inning, when Boston unloaded five runs to take a 5-4 lead, highlighted by a clutch homer by Pablo Sandoval. The two-strike, two-out, three-run shot was the Panda's first longball since 2015.

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But it was a tough eighth inning for the Red Sox bullpen. Three Red Sox pitchers walked four Tiger hitters, including Joe Kelly's bases-loaded, full-count walk of rookie JaCoby Jones to allow Detroit to take a 6-5 lead.

The Red Sox were shorthanded entering the series, with Xander Bogaerts and Matt Barnes on bereavement and Hanley Ramirez, Mookie Betts, and Robbie Ross out with the flu. That left Boston without their three top hitters.