DETROIT (AP) — Jurickson Profar hit his first career grand slam and the Oakland Athletics routed Detroit 17-3 Thursday for their 13th straight victory over the Tigers.
Josh Phegley had four hits, including one of Oakland’s five home runs, as the A’s won their ninth in a row at Comerica Park.
The A’s had lost three straight and were 1-10 in their last 11 road games before romping.
Detroit has been outscored 41-9 while losing the first four games of a 10-game homestand. Tigers manager Ron Gardenhire was forced to use outfielder Brandon Dixon to pitch the ninth inning — the infielder/outfielder, who had two scoreless appearances on the mound for Cincinnati last year, gave up a two-run homer to Mark Canha.
Matt Olson and Marcus Semien also homered for Oakland.
Ohio native Chris Bassitt (2-1) pitched eight shutout innings in front of a large group of friends and family. Three of Bassitt’s six career wins have come against the Tigers, all at Comerica Park.
Spencer Turnbull (2-3) took the loss for Detroit, allowing six runs, only one of which was earned, on five hits and two walks.
Dawel Lugo hit a three-run homer with two outs in the Tigers ninth off Aaron Brooks.
The Tigers had the game’s first scoring chance when Ronny Rodriguez tripled with one out in the second inning, but he was thrown out at the plate trying to score on Josh Harrison’s grounder to third.
The A’s then scored six times in the third. The Tigers missed a pair of double-play opportunities and Oakland got a run when Turnbull struck out Khris Davis on a wild pitch. Profar made it 6-0 with his slam.
Phegley hit a two-run homer in the sixth and Matt Olson added a solo homer later in the inning. Phegley’s fourth hit gave the A’s a 10-run lead in the seventh, and Marcus Semien followed with a three-run drive.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Athletics: RHP Jharel Cotton (elbow) will start a rehab assignment on Friday with Class A Stockton. Cotton has been out since undergoing Tommy John surgery in March 2018. . LF Nick Martini is hitting .357 in five rehab games with Triple-A Las Vegas.
Tigers: RHP Jordan Zimmermann (elbow) suffered a muscle strain while working out, but Gardenhire doesn’t expect it to change his return date. Zimmermann is expected to be out for at least another month.
UP NEXT
The teams play the second of four games on Friday night, with Oakland’s Frankie Montas (4-2, 2.78 ERA) facing Detroit’s Daniel Norris (2-1, 3.63).
