DETROIT -- Nick Castellanos knew what was up.

Castellanos came to bat with two outs in the eighth inning of a tie game Monday. Andrew Romine stood on second following a double and Ian Kinsler on first after walking on a 3-1 pitch from Chris Sale.

"I knew exactly what they were going to do," Castellanos said. "As soon as I saw Sale talking to (catcher Sandy) Leon through his glove, I had a good idea."

What Sale did was to pitch around Kinsler, not give him anything good to hit, to bring up Castellanos.

The Detroit third baseman squeezed a single through the left side of the infield, though, scoring Romine from second to give the Tigers a 2-1 victory over the Boston Red Sox and three wins in the four-game series.

"Sale has handled me in the past," Castellanos said, "and Kins(ler) has hit him in the past. It feels good when you're able to do that.

"You just walk to the plate with a little more of a chip on your shoulder."

Kinsler had tagged a flat Sale breaking ball for a two-out home run in the sixth, his second of the season, to create the 1-1 tie. Castellanos had been struck out twice by Sale in what was an 0-for-3 day before the game-winning single.

"That was Sale," Boston manager John Farrell said of Kinsler. "He had that game under control. Even in the eighth inning. He gets a ball off Brock (Holt's) glove, from Romine once again, for the double.

"So with two outs, he's kind of pitching around (Kinsler). Against a guy in Castellanos who (has) notoriously been better against right-handed pitching. I thought it was a matchup that we would certainly look to take advantage of. That was his game. That was his opportunity to shut the game off."

Justin Wilson (1-0) picked up the victory after pitching a scoreless eighth inning. Francisco Rodriguez gave up a leadoff single in the ninth but then retired the side to notch his second save.

Sale (0-1), who recorded double-digit strikeouts for the 36th time in his career, got two quick outs in the eighth before Romine grounded his second double of the game into the left-field corner to set up the game-deciding hit.

Sale gave up five hits, walked one and fanned 10 in 7 2/3 innings.

Boston picked up an unearned run in the second off Justin Verlander. A leadoff double by Mitch Moreland, a walk plus an error loaded the bases with nobody out. Holt hit into double play to score the run.

"The second inning," Farrell said, "we get into a bases-loaded situation. Nobody out you're hopeful that you can get a crooked number up there but he makes a quality pitch to Brock to turn the double play and he was able to shut it off after that.

"Even after Mitch led off with a double (in the fourth) he was able to strand him. This was a classic pitcher's duel that they hooked into."

Verlander struggled with his command (112 pitches, 67 strikes) but still managed to get through seven innings, retiring 12 of the last 13 batters he faced. He gave up just three hits, walked two and struck out four.

"The good ones have the ability to get back in the count with a secondary pitch," Detroit manager Brad Ausmus said, "because you can't keep pumping heaters in fastball counts when you're behind.

"And I think that was a big pitch for him when he got behind. He flipped the curveball over. He had the command of it to put it in the strike zone. Hitters generally aren't looking to swing the bat in a 2-0, 1-0, 2-1 count on the curveball. They want to hit the fastball."

NOTES: Boston SS Xander Bogaerts, due to return from bereavement leave, had his flight from Aruba cancelled. He is now slated to return to the Red Sox lineup Tuesday against Baltimore. ... LF Justin Upton was a late lineup scratch by Detroit due to upper back tightness. He was replaced in the field by UT Andrew Romine. ... LHP David Price, out of action since Feb. 28 with elbow soreness, threw a 20-pitch bullpen and will throw another one Wednesday if he feels well. There will be "a progression similar to spring training," manager John Farrell said, before Price can return to the roster. ... Detroit optioned RHP Bruce Rondon (40.50 ERA) to Toledo and purchased the contract of RHP Joe Jimenez from the Triple-A team to replace him. ... Boston announced postgame it was placing CF Jackie Bradley Jr. (right knee strain) on the 10-day disabled list. 1B Hanley Ramirez worked out at Fenway Park and Farrell said he'll start Tuesday.