David Price pitches 8 innings of 1-hit baseball, takes the loss against his former team

David Price threw eight innings of one-hit baseball Thursday. He ended up with the loss. In the new Detroit Tiger’s first game against his old team, the Tampa Bay Rays, the Tigers’ offense couldn’t do much to help him out against Rays’ starter Aaron Cobb.

Admittedly, the Tigers did get more hits than the Rays, out hitting them 4 hits to just the one. The Rays just happened to get lucky, thanks to on a throwing error by Tigers’ shortstop Eugenio Suarez.

The error by Suarez came in the first inning. It allowed Ben Zobrist to reach base. Price then gave up his only hit to the third batter of the game. Rays’ left fielder Brandon Guyer hit a triple to right that scored Zobrist and the rest was, well, a pitcher’s dual of pretty epic proportions.

We already know what Price did in the game. He worked quickly and efficiently throwing just 100 pitches, 73 of which were for strikes. He fanned nine batters and didn’t allow a single walk.

Meanwhile Cobb, who was good but not quite as good as Price, allowed two hits and two walks in seven innings, striking out six. The Tigers’ other two hits came off of relievers Brad Boxberger and Jake McGee.

The Tigers left everyone of their six base runners stranded as Price set a new career high in strikeouts.

It’s perplexing that a team with the last three American League Cy Young Award winners in Justin Verlander (2011), Price (2012) and Max Scherzer (2013) could lose, ever, especially with guys like the most recent triple crown winner and back to back A.L. MVP Miguel Cabrera, who is currently hitting .309 on the year, in the line up but Detroit has managed to. Detroit right-fielder Torii Hunter said it best,

"“I mean, you talk about almost a no-hitter. I just wish we would have scored some runs. At least one run. It’s really frustrating, you know? Of course it was a good game both ways, but — at least one run? Can’t we get one?”"

Yeah, one run would have taken the Tigers at the very least into extra innings. Unfortunately for the Tigers, they now sit on the outside of the postseason picture. They’re now two games behind the A.L. Central leading Kansas City Royals and a half a game behind the Seattle Mariners for the second A.L. Wild Card spot.

There is still quite a bit of baseball yet to play and we all know anything can happen but every team who is on the outside looking in to the playoff picture needs to be on their toes. Then again it is the same with everyone still inside that postseason bound box, you can be bounced right out at anytime.

This year more than any, at least in a long time, truly anything can happen. That is the true beauty of baseball. You’ve got to love a little parity once in a while, huh?