Associated Press

BOSTON — Drew Pomeranz felt a lot more comfortable in his second start for the Red Sox. It just wasn’t enough for him to earn his first victory in a Boston uniform.

Jose Iglesias hit a two-run homer in the sixth inning, Justin Verlander pitched six solid innings and the Detroit Tigers beat the Red Sox 4-2 on Monday night to spoil Pomeranz’s second start at Fenway.

Pomeranz (8-8), the former Ole Miss standout recently acquired from the San Diego Padres, gave up four hits and struck out seven in six innings. Both of the runs he allowed came via Iglesias’ homer.

“I had a good curveball tonight. I was locating my fastball a lot better,” Pomeranz said. “I was in a lot better counts all night. I really made one bad pitch.”

Boston failed to homer Monday, ending a streak of 15 straight games with at least one. The Red Sox have lost three of their last four and fell to 11-12 this season against AL Central teams.

They’ve also now gone 21-21 this season in games decided by two or fewer runs.

Victor Martinez and James McCann also drove in runs for the Tigers. Detroit pulled within 5 1/2 games of idle AL Central-leading Cleveland.

Verlander (10-6) allowed one run and five hits and struck out five to pick up the victory. He is 3-0 in his last five starts.

Francisco Rodriguez earned his 28th save.