Michael Lorenzen pitched six strong innings and the host Detroit Tigers defeated the slumping Pittsburgh Pirates 4-0 on Tuesday night.

Lorenzen (2-2) struck out a season-high seven batters while allowing five hits and two walks. Will Vest pitched two scoreless innings with three strikeouts. Jose Cisnero got the last three outs to finish off the shutout.

Riley Greene had three hits and scored a run, while Spencer Torkelson supplied two doubles, a run and an RBI for Detroit.

Pirates starter Luis Ortiz (0-2) allowed four runs (three earned) and seven hits in three-plus innings. He also walked four batters and threw a wild pitch. Pittsburgh has lost 12 of its last 14 games while scoring just 22 runs during that stretch.

The Tigers scored twice in the first inning and Ortiz was lucky it wasn’t more.

Greene started it off with a one-out double and scored on Javier Baez’s opposite-field single. Torkelson then drilled a slider into the left-center-field gap for a double, driving in Baez.

Ortiz walked the next two batters but recovered to strike out Miguel Cabrera. Andy Ibanez then hit a long fly ball that Jack Suwinski caught on the warning track.

A diving catch by Pirates left fielder Bryan Reynolds prevented the Tigers from scoring in the second. Greene had a two-out single before Reynolds robbed Baez of an extra-base hit.

Ortiz wasn’t as fortunate in the third. Torkelson led off with another double and advanced to third on Akil Baddoo’s one-out infield hit. An errant pickoff attempt allowed Torkelson to score and Baddoo to race to third. After walking Cabrera, Ortiz threw a wild pitch and Baddoo came home to make it 4-0.

Carlos Santana led off the top of the fourth with a double but never advanced. Lorenzen sat down the next three batters with a strikeout and two fly balls.

The Pirates had a pair of two-out singles in the fifth, but Lorenzen escaped trouble as Reynolds flied out.

–Field Level Media