In the first game of their series against the Detroit Tigers, Zach Duke struggled again but the Arizona Diamondbacks rally as Wily Mo Pena homered in the eighth inning to beat the Detroit Tigers 7-6. It was another gritty effort by the teamy, as they battled back after falling behind 4-0 and 6-3.
Zach Duke only managed four innings of work before getting pulled, giving up six runs on six hits and three walks. But the bullpen was solid as Brian Shaw, Esmerling Vasquez, David Hernandez and J.J. Putz combined for five scoreless innings to bail out Duke.
Pena, who was called up to DH during the interleague roadtrip, hit a bomb off of reliever David Purcey -- the third longest homer hit in Comerica Park since it was opened six years ago. He also drove in a run in the fourth inning. The homer was his second since being called up, after having hit 21 in AAA.
Arizona tried to break the game open in the ninth with the bases loaded and one out, but a failed squeeze play by Chris Young led to an inning-ending double play.
The win makes 16 for the D-backs on the road in their last 20 games and improves their overall record to 43-34 on the season.
Justin Upton collected another two hits and two walks to continue with his current hitting tear and Xavier Nady came up with two hits and drove in two runs.
Esmerling Vasquez picked up his first win of the year and Putz secured his 21st save in 24 chances.
Game 2 of the series is tomorrow at 4:05 AZT, featuring Josh Collmenter against Detroit's ace Justin Verlander.
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