Detroit Tigers locked up by rookie in 4-1 loss to Oakland Athletics, split doubleheader

Detroit Tigers right-hander Alex Faedo, the No. 18 overall pick in the 2017 draft, took a step forward in his second MLB start.

The 26-year-old completed five innings of two-run ball, and he looked comfortable on the mound.

"There's zero anxiousness," manager A.J. Hinch said. "He's not all over the map. He's pretty dialed in."

Unlike Game 1, the offense didn't provide run support in Game 2 of Tuesday's doubleheader. Oakland Athletics righty starter Adrian Martinez, making his MLB debut, countered Faedo's efforts by pitching into the sixth inning.

The Tigers lost, 4-1, and split the doubleheader at Comerica Park.

GAME 1: Tigers back up Tarik Skubal with actual offense in 6-0 win in Game 1 of doubleheader

SEIDEL: Tigers' frustration is building as offense stalls. There's no magic cure in sight

After Martinez finished 5⅓ scoreless innings, three Athletics relievers held Detroit to one run, three hits and two walks to end the game. The Tigers (9-21) were largely unthreatening in Game 2, finishing with seven hits, two walks and five strikeouts.

"We had a tough first half of the game against the new kid," Hinch said. "Giving ourselves a chance at the end is more what we expect from our guys, the type of at-bats and taking whatever they give us."

The hits, all singles, belonged to Austin Meadows, Miguel Cabrera, Jonathan Schoop, Willi Castro and Eric Haase. Rookie Spencer Torkelson went 0-for-3 with one strikeout and one hit-by-pitch. The 22-year-old is 2-for-35 (.057) in his past 11 games.

Torkelson was hit by an 0-2 fastball from Athletics reliever Lou Trivino to load the bases with one out in the ninth inning. Haase struck out swinging for the second out, and Robbie Grossman drew a four-pitch walk to plate the Tigers' first run.

But Meadows popped out to end the game.

"We gave ourselves and opportunity with one of our best hitters up," Hinch said. "Can't ask for more than that."

Nice job, rook

For the second time in as many starts, Faedo operated as the Tigers' 27th player for the doubleheader, though he is a candidate — alongside left-hander Joey Wentz — to officially join the starting rotation.

Faedo, throwing 83 pitches, allowed two runs on four hits and two walks with seven strikeouts across five innings.

"That was good stuff," Hinch said. "He had a good slider. He had a pretty good changeup. He's got great presence. He throws strikes. He gets into leverage (counts). All positive things for a starting pitcher, especially in his second start up here. I thought he handled himself pretty well."

The most impressive part of Faedo's performance was his 17 swings and misses, including 10 with his slider. The sliders befuddled the Athletics, especially in the first three innings.

He retired the first seven batters he faced, striking out four of them: Sheldon Neuse (slider, swinging), Seth Brown (changeup, swinging), Ramon Laureano (slider, swinging) and Kevin Smith (fastball, looking).

"I thought it was pretty good," Faedo said of his slider.

Faedo walked Luis Barrera with one out in the third inning, then retired his next two opponents. Barrera stole second base and advanced to third base due to the first of two throwing errors by catcher Eric Haase, but Faedo stranded him.

To begin the fourth, Neuse singled and attempted to steal second base. Once again, Haase was charged with a throwing error. Neuse moved up to third base and scored on Jed Lowrie's sacrifice fly for a 1-0 Athletics lead.

With two outs, Smith knocked Faedo's first-pitch slider into center field for an RBI single and a 2-0 advantage. Faedo needed 22 pitches for the two-run fourth and 18 pitches for the scoreless fifth.

"Just a little lapse," Faedo said. "I'll be better than that next time. I got to be able to make adjustments pitch by pitch."

For his 83 pitches (53 strikes), Faedo used 44 four-seam fastballs (53%), 26 sliders (31%) and 13 changeups (16%). To go with his 10 slider whiffs, he got swings and misses with four fastballs and three changeups.

His fastball averaged 92.8 mph.

"It's been huge for me," Faedo said of his changeup. "That's been a huge thing for my whole (Tommy John) rehab process, having a third pitch that I can really rely on. It's a pitch that can go inside on righties; it's a pitch that makes hitters not just think slider is coming as an off-speed pitch. I'm going to keep working it."

Bullpen roundup

Right-handed reliever Will Vest struck the side out looking in the sixth inning, punching out Sean Murphy with a 96.2 mph fastball, Brown with a 95.5 mph fastball and Ramon Laureano with a 95.8 mph fastball.

The Athletics scored their third run in the seventh against left-hander Andrew Chafin. He ceded three singles, and the second hit was an RBI from Cristian Pache on a first-pitch slider.

Right-hander Rony García fired a scoreless eighth inning with two strikeouts, but righty Alex Lange conceded Oakland's fourth run in the ninth. A single from Laureano was followed by a sacrifice bunt, wild pitch and sacrifice fly.

Those plays scored Laureano, putting the Athletics ahead 4-0.

Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him on Twitter @EvanPetzold. Read more on the Detroit Tigers and sign up for our Tigers newsletter.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Tigers locked up in 4-1 loss to A's, split DH