HOUSTON — For 8.2 innings and two strikes, the Tigers' lay dormant at the hands of Houston Astros pitching.
Then closer Ryan Pressly, with a runner at first base, hung a two-strike slider to Jeimer Candelario. The ball left his bat with an exit velocity of 105 mph and traveled 383 feet into the seats in right field. A dispiriting 2-0 loss was suddenly a 2-2 tie going into the bottom of the ninth.
That, as it turned out, was but a reprieve for the visitors.
