Rich Hill throttles Tigers in A’s 5-1 victory

DETROIT - Rich Hill allowed four hits in seven scoreless innings, and the Athletics beat the Detroit Tigers 5-1 on Tuesday night.

Marcus Semien homered for the A’s, and Hill (3-2) breezed through Detroit’s righty-heavy lineup with little trouble. The left-hander struck out eight and wasn’t really in any jams after he escaped the first inning with two on.

Mike Pelfrey (0-4) allowed five runs and nine hits in 6? innings and remains winless since signing with Detroit this past offseason. He allowed three runs in the fourth inning and then gave up Semien’s two-run shot with two out in the seventh.

Justin Upton made a terrific catch in left field in the third, reaching above the wall on a drive by Oakland’s Chris Coghlan. The ball actually popped out of Upton’s glove, but he was able to gather it in before it hit the ground.

Oakland opened the scoring in the fourth on an RBI single by Jed Lowrie. Shortstop Jose Iglesias was unable to come up with Lowrie’s sharp grounder after ranging well to his right. Coco Crisp added a sacrifice fly, and Khris Davis made it 3-0 with an RBI single.

The Tigers didn’t score until Martinez’s RBI double with two out in the ninth. Billy Burns got a glove on his deep drive but couldn’t hold on in front of the wall in center.