BALTIMORE -- With the way the Detroit Tigers' bullpen is struggling, there's no way to tell for sure how many runs would have been enough to beat the Baltimore Orioles in Game 2 of the ALDS.
Based on what we've seen of Detroit's relievers so far during the playoffs -- and for much of the regular season, as well -- another run or maybe even four might have been a pittance for the Orioles to come back from Friday at Camden Yards.
One thing is certain, however: In baseball, you never want to make the first out of an inning at home plate, which the Tigers did in the eighth of a 7-6 loss.
Already leading 5-3, they had Miguel Cabrera (single) at first and Torrii Hunter (walk) at second with nobody out when Victor Martinez lined one off the base of the wall in right-center. Hunter scored easily on the play to make it 6-3, then Tigers third-base coach Dave Clark took the risk of sending Cabrera home, as well.
For their part, the Orioles made a solid defensive play. Center fielder Adam Jones picked up the ball cleanly, hit cutoff man Jonathan Schoop, who then threw a strike to catcher Caleb Joseph.
Cabrera was a dead duck at home. So, too, might be the Tigers' championship hopes as they head home to Comerica Park for Game 3 Sunday afternoon. Another defeat at the hands of the Orioles will end their season.
"It's a little tough to swallow," Tigers manager Brad Ausmus said of Friday's loss.
It's even more tough to swallow when you consider what might have been had Cabrera -- who's been slowed by an ankle injury for much of the season -- not received the green light from Clark. At the very least, they likely would have scored a seventh run when J.D. Martinez flied out to right field following Victor Martinez's at-bat.
Perhaps, with runners at second and third and nobody out, the Tigers would have put up a big inning to finally bury the Orioles.
Instead, they went into the bottom of the eighth leading 6-3 and ended the inning trailing 7-6 because of another bullpen collapse.
DAVIS DAY TO DAY
When the ball left his bat and sailed down the left-field line at Camden Yards, it had double written all over it.
But this isn't the same Rajai Davis who had 27 doubles and stole 36 bases during the regular season. This Davis is battling a pelvic injury and wasn't even inserted into the starting lineup for the Tigers until right before Game 2.
So instead of an easy double, Davis gingerly made his way to first base in the fourth inning and was replaced by pinch-runner Ezequiel Carrera, who then stayed in the game in center field.
The official word on Davis is "tightness," and he's listed as day to day.
"It's a learning process," Davis said after the game. "I gave it my best shot. I gave what I had, and unfortunately, my body's only allowing me to do so much.
"I'm just going to rest up and recover and have high hopes for Sunday to be normal."
As he walked out of the dugout before batting practice Friday, Davis said that he felt better than he did Thursday, when he noticeably limped a few times in Game 1 and was pulled for pinch-hitter Carrera in the ninth inning of a 12-3 Tigers loss.
BANG AND BUST
For the second consecutive game, Tigers left fielder J.D. Martinez hit a big home run.
Thursday's was a bases-empty shot that tied the game at 2 in the second inning. On Friday, he had a three-run blast during a five-run fourth that put the Tigers ahead 5-2.
Martinez, who bombed his way into Detroit's lineup with major power numbers in the minors this spring, simply continues to amaze at the highest level.
Once cut by the Houston Astros, he had 23 homers, 30 doubles and 76 RBIs in 123 regular-season games for the Tigers this season.
But his bobble while fielding Delmon Young's bases-clearing triple in the eighth Friday was mostly on Martinez's mind following the loss. The brief moment it took Martinez to gather the ball and send it to cutoff man Ian Kinsler was enough time to allow J.J. Hardy to score the eventual winning run on a close play at the plate.
"Yeah, there was definitely a play at home there," Martinez said. "We just didn't get him."
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