The
Tigers are facing an early-season test this week in Cleveland.
Tuesday, they recieved failing grades across the board.
Rick Porcello didn't pitch well, the defense was awful and the offense couldn't
take advantage of Ubaldo Jimenez's wildness in a 5-3 loss to the Indians. In
other words, the Tigers did the same thing that they've done all season, and it
cost them again.
The offense, which has left batters on base all season, stranded 10 more on
Tuesday. While Alex Avila hit a three-run homer in the second inning, that was
the only time a Tiger reached home plate.
Even in the ninth, Detroit had runners on first and third with one out with
Miguel Cabrera and Prince Fielder coming up. Unfortunately for the Tigers, Cabrera
struck out and Fielder grounded into a game-ending force at second.
"Last year, the thing that we did down the stretch was get big hits in
two-out situations," Avila said to FOX Sports Detroit's John Keating
during the postgame show. "This season, that isn't happening. We had a lot
of opportunities again tonight, and we didn't get the hits."
On the mound, Porcello couldn't answer the challenge made by Jim Leyland last
week. Porcello couldn't keep his sinker down, and ended up yielding five runs (four
earned) on eight hits and three walks in 5 1/3 innings. In his last seven
starts, he is 2-4 with a 6.69 ERA, and that doesn't include six more unearned
runs.
"I'm not helping this club right now, and that's the frustating
thing," Porcello said. "I felt fine, but I was falling behind guys,
and that's obviously not what you want. I wasn't able to put guys ahead when I
needed it, and that hurt me."
Even on the rare occasions that Porcello made a good pitch, he didn't get help
from his defense. The Tigers were only credited with one error — Porcello threw
away a pickoff throw — but that doesn't begin to tell the story of the
defensive woes.
Just two batters into the game, Jason Kipnis hit what looked like a tailor-made
double-play ball, but Ramon Santiago and Jhonny Peralta weren't able to turn
it. That ended up costing the Tigers a run, as Asdrubal Cabrera followed with
an RBI double. Brennan Boesch misplayed a sixth-inning liner into an RBI
double, and Avila allowed three stolen bases without throwing anyone out.
Despite the problems in every part of the game, and the fact that the Tigers
haven't won back-to-back games in over a month, Leyland was remarkably calm
after the game.
"I don't think anyone played a bad game, we just didn't have the balls
drop in tonight," Leyland said. "Ricky had a good game plan, but he
might have overdone things a little and gotten away from the way he gets guys
out.
"I don't think we are in a funk. We hit the ball better than our
production showed, but they made some nice plays. You can't whine about it. You
just have to score runs."
In an attempt to boost the offense in Austin Jackson's continued absence with a
sore hamstring, the Tigers made a roster move after the game. They designated
struggling reliever Collin Balester for assignment and purchased the contract
of Quintin Berry from Triple-A Toledo. Berry is a speedy outfielder who can
replace Jackson in center field, but is likely to struggle at the plate.
"We had Jackson in the lineup tonight, but once he got onto the field to
warm up, he couldn't go," Leyland said. "We'll put Berry in center field
on Wednesday, and that will buy us a couple more days before we have to make a
final decision about putting Jackson on the disabled list."
