Tigers thump Red Sox as Scherzer goes to 11-0

Martinez hits grand slam in 1st for Detroit

Tigers pitcher Max Scherzer struck out six batters as he improved to 11-0. He is the first pitcher to start 11-0 since Roger Clemens in 1997 with the Toronto Blue Jays.

DETROIT — Max Scherzer won his 11th straight decision to start the season, and Victor Martinez hit a first-inning grand slam to lead the Detroit Tigers to a 10-3 victory over the Boston Red Sox on Saturday night.

Scherzer (11-0) allowed two runs in the first, including a towering solo homer by David Ortiz, but Martinez’s drive put the Tigers ahead to stay.

Martinez also hit an RBI double in the fifth, and Scherzer shut down Boston after the first. He allowed two runs and six hits in seven innings.

Allen Webster (0-2) gave up five runs and eight hits in 4 1/​3 innings. He struck out five and walked two.

Boston reliever Franklin Morales yielded four runs, including a two-run homer by Omar Infante.

Scherzer became the first pitcher to start 11-0 since Roger Clemens in 1997, according to STATS. The last to start 12-0 also was Clemens, during a 14-0 stretch to begin his AL MVP season in 1986.

The first two hitters singled off Scherzer, and Dustin Pedroia’s double-play grounder gave Boston a 1-0 lead. Ortiz’s 16th homer put the Red Sox up by two.

Detroit erased that deficit in a hurry. After singles by Austin Jackson and Torii Hunter, Miguel Cabrera drew a walk. Prince Fielder struck out, but Martinez’s line drive cleared the wall in right for his third career slam.

Scherzer allowed only two hits in the next four innings. Mike Carp hit a grounder to the mound for an infield hit and went to third when Scherzer threw wildly to first for an error. Carp was stranded on Daniel Nava’s flyout.

Jose Iglesias appeared to have a double in the fifth, but he stumbled past second base while beating Hunter’s throw from right field and was tagged out.

Ortiz hit a drive in the sixth that Jackson ran down in deep left-center. Scherzer struck out his final batter in the seventh — Jarrod Saltalamacchia — for his sixth strikeout. He’s reached that mark in all 15 starts this year.

The Tigers, meanwhile, kept adding runs. Andy Dirks singled, stole second, and scored on Jackson’s single in the fourth. Webster was lifted with nobody on in the fifth, and Morales allowed a walk to Fielder, a run-scoring double by Martine,z and an RBI single by Jhonny Peralta.

NOTES: Jackson, Hunter, and Dirks all had three hits. ... Ortiz’s 18 homers at Comerica Park are the most there by a visiting player, according to STATS. ... For a second straight night, Shane Victorino tried to throw out Cabrera at first base from right field on what looked like a clean single. Cabrera has beaten the throw both times.