Maeda adds to previous struggles at Fenway Park in loss 

BOSTON -- In his second start since returning from the IL due to illness, Kenta Maeda was cruising early on a before things unraveled in a big fourth inning for the hosts, leading the Tigers to a 7-3 defeat on Fridat night and leaving their starter with yet another loss at Fenway Park.

The Tigers' starter did open with a walk to Jarren Duran but that was quickly erased by a double-play ball. Over his first three innings, there were not many hard-hit balls against Maeda, who would record three outs by way of grounder and two infield pop-ups, while striking out four.

Then the floodgates opened quickly in the bottom of the fourth inning, when Rafael Devers led off by ripping a double off the Green Monster that came off the bat at 101.7 mph.

“The first and the second, he walked a pretty fine line with a walk and a single and made really important two-out pitches to get out of it,” said manager A.J. Hinch. “You do that enough, it feels like it’s just going to catch up to you when you make the wrong mistake to the wrong hitter. He gave up some damage to some right-handed hitters on some pitches that weren’t his best placement, and he paid for it.”

Maeda would get the next batter, Rob Refsnyder, to fly out to right field but Dom Smith followed with a hard double that scored Devers to tie the game at one, and Vaughn Grissom singled to put runners at the corners with one out.

The Tigers would use a mound visit, sending out assistant pitching coach Juan Nieves to try and calm their starter, and it looked to work as Maeda set down David Hamilton next on strikes.

Then No. 9 hitter Ceddanne Rafaela stepped up and took the first offering from the Detroit hurler and sent it 359 feet into the first row of Green Monster seats to put the Red Sox up, 4-1.

“Fourth inning I gave up some hits, but it was the homer that was the big one. First pitch, I didn’t execute that pitch well enough,” said Maeda, who explained that was hoping to keep the pitch more away from the batter. “If I could have executed that pitch to where I wanted to, things could have been different. I think that pitch and that home run, the result, pretty much called the game tonight.”

Maeda would serve up a pair of hard doubles, and another run, in the fifth inning, and despite being able to get two outs in the inning, he was removed before he was able to get through it completely.

He finished having allowed a season-high eight hits, with two walks and he struck out a season-high six batters after allowing five runs in 4 2/3 innings.

“It’s definitely frustrating to give up so many runs, especially in that inning,” said the Tigers’ starter. “The first run, that one was tough, but for the runs to keep scoring after, that’s less than ideal.”

“Getting out of it early was encouraging, but you give them too many shots at a big hit, it’s bound to bite you,” added Hinch. “For him, it was rough because of the damage that was done with the home runs and the extra-base hits.”

For Maeda, it was the fourth home run he had allowed at Fenway Park in just his third career start at the ballpark. With the loss, he moved to 0-3 and now carries a 6.37 ERA in 12 1/3 innings of work.

“Nothing special towards Fenway in terms of game plan or anything,” said Maeda, who moved to 2-2 with a 6.25 ERA on the year. “Regardless of the dimensions of the field, I just have to grind it out.”

The Tigers' offense did manage to stake Maeda to a 1-0 lead in the top half of the first inning but managed just three hits over the first seven innings. Colt Keith added a two-run blast into the Tigers' bullpen in the eighth inning, the second long ball for the rookie.