DETROIT — The Tigers have played clean baseball for most of the season. You don’t carry the best record in baseball into the middle of June without playing the game right.

But the Tigers probably played their sloppiest game of the season on Sunday and it cost them a series.

The Reds rallied for four gift-wrapped, unearned runs in the top of the eighth inning and beat the Tigers, 8-4, in the rubber match of the three-game series before a sellout crowd (40,418) at Comerica Park.

The Tigers broke a 2-2 tie in the bottom of the seventh on a clutch, two-out RBI single by Gleyber Torres and an RBI double off the center-field wall by Riley Greene.

Then it all fell apart.

It started with an error by lefty reliever Brant Hurter, who fumbled a comebacker hit by TJ Friedl and then rolled an underhand toss past first baseman Spencer Torkelson.

Manager AJ Hinch decided to bring in right-hander Will Vest and he was greeted with singles by Matt McLain and Elly De La Cruz, scoring one run.

It looked like Vest would get out of it with a lead still intact. He struck out Tyler Stephenson and got Christian Encarnacion-Strand to hit a ground ball to Zach McKinstry at third base, a potential inning-ending double-play ball.

But the ball spun in McKinstry’s glove and he double-clutched on the throw. Runners were safe at second and first and the bases were loaded.

Pinch-hitter Will Benson tied the game with a sacrifice fly.

A single by Gavin Lux made it 5-4 and then Vest unleashed a pitch to Santiago Espinal that flew over catcher Dillon Dingler’s head to the backstop. Encarnacion-Strand scored on the wild pitch and Vest seemed to injure himself on the pitch.

He left the game with the trainer. There was no immediate report on the nature of the injury.

De La Cruz effectively put the game out of reach with a two-run, opposite-field homer in the top of the ninth off Brenan Hanifee. He's homered in four straight games and has 16 on the season.

The Tigers’ offense, for the first six innings, was limited to a pair of solo home runs off Reds lefty starter Wade Miley. Jahmai Jones, who came in 6 for 11 in his first seven games with the Tigers, launched a 2-1 cutter over the bullpen in left.

In the fourth, Wenceel Perez stayed on a 2-1 change-up and sent it 408 feet over the fence in left-center.

But that was it until the two-out damage in the seventh.

The Tigers were scrambling and putting out fires in seemingly every inning.

The Reds scored twice in the fourth, another ugly defensive inning.

Sawyer Gipson-Long, who started his outing after lefty Tyler Holton breezed through the first, got the dangerous De La Cruz to roll over on a cutter. Gipson-Long got to the ball quickly but his throw went down the right-field line, putting De La Cruz on second.

He advanced to third on a wild pitch and scored on a single by Stephenson.

Shortstop Javier Baez misplayed a ground ball and Stephenson ended up scoring on a sacrifice fly.

They were able to get out of the inning without further trouble thanks to a strike-em-out, throw-em-out double-play by Gipson-Long and catcher Dingler.

The long inning ended Gipson-Long's day after just three innings and 55 pitches.

Right-hander Chase Lee got himself in a mess in the fifth, allowing a double to right-handed hitting Espinal and a walk to No. 9 hitter Jake Fraley.

With one out and two on, Lee faced righty McLain with De La Cruz on deck. Lee kept De La Cruz out of the equation by getting McLain to hit into an inning-ending 5-4-3 double-play.

It seemed big at the time.

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