Sox, Lackey Struggle In 6-1 Loss To Red-Hot Tigers

John Lackey struggled at times to locate his fastball. The Detroit Tigers seemed able to find it at will.

The Tigers tagged Lackey for six runs and continued their torrid May with a 6-1 win at Boston on Saturday night.

Lackey (5-3) gave up more than two runs for the first time in five starts. Five the six were earned as he allowed nine hits in 5 1-3 innings.

Detroit hit Lackey especially hard in the fifth, scoring a pair of runs with three doubles and a single.

"Just didn't get some locations there in the fifth inning. That was pretty much the inning I'd like to take back. I just didn't locate some balls in that inning for sure," Lackey said. "They're deep all the way through the lineup."

Miguel Cabrera hit a solo homer in the third and RBI single in the fifth and Rick Porcello pitched eight solid innings for Detroit. It was the 10th consecutive road win for the Tigers, who are a majors' best 26-12.

Xander Bogaerts had a solo homer and Mike Napoli three singles for the slumping Red Sox, who have scored just one run in the first two games of the three-game series. Boston lost the opener 1-0 Friday.

"Early runs, we find ourselves behind," Boston manager John Farrell said. "One real scoring threat in the fourth inning and we come up empty. That was pretty much the story here tonight."

Porcello (7-1) gave up one run on six hits, striking out four and walking one.

Boston's David Ortiz had a single to extend his hitting streak to 10 games, going 19 for 40 with five homers and eight RBIs during that stretch.

With Detroit leading 1-0 in the third, Cabrera hit a fly ball down the right field line, hooking it around the Pesky Pole about 10 to 15 feet and a couple of rows into the seats.

In the fourth, Torii Hunter had an RBI double and scored on Cabrera's single to make it 4-0.

"I thought he had very good stuff. There were some mislocated fastballs, particularly to the arm side that they were able to capitalize on," Farrell said. "When you saw the doubles by the right-handers, those were balls that ended up on the inside part of the plate."

The Red Sox were scoreless for 14 straight innings until Bogaerts homered into the seats above the Green Monster leading off the fifth. Rajai Davis' RBI double made it 5-1 and chased Lackey in the sixth. Davis scored on Ian Kinsler's sacrifice fly.

Boston's slumbering offense loaded the bases with two outs in the fourth, but A.J. Pierzynski grounded weakly to second.

NOTES: The Red Sox placed 3B Will Middlebrooks on the 15-day disabled list before the game for the second time this season. This time, he was sidelined with a fractured right index finger he hurt in Friday's loss. He missed 19 games in April with a strained right calf. To take his place on the roster, the team recalled INF Brock Holt from Triple-A Pawtucket. Holt played third and batted ninth, going 0 for 3. ... Boston 1B Napoli made a nice catch on Cabrera's foul pop, leaning over the railing and into the first row of seats and Dustin Pedroia made a diving stab of Martinez's liner. ... Tigers RHP Anibal Sanchez (0-2, 3.13 ERA) faces RHP Jake Peavy (1-1, 3.94) in a nationally televised Sunday night series finale.