Mike Pelfrey's three seasons in Minnesota were painful, but they never came with the diminutive levels of run support with which he's been welcomed in Detroit. Still, he has enough of his own concerns to correct before he criticizes the offense.
The right-hander makes his fourth start of the season, Tuesday night (6 pregame, 7:10 first pitch on FOX Sports Detroti) at home against the Oakland Athletics, and the Tigers have yet to score with him on the mound.
Pelfrey (0-3, 3.68 ERA) received 11 runs Aug. 12 in a win over Texas while with the Twins but has gone 0-7 since with a 5.54 ERA and nine runs of support in 50 1/3 innings over 11 starts, including 14 2/3 without a run from the Tigers (9-9).
The latest was Thursday's 4-0 loss in Kansas City with Pelfrey giving up three earned runs and eight hits with five walks in five innings. He's walked 11 in 11 innings over the last two starts, and the control problems at least gave him something to focus on other than the nonexistent offense.
"I don't think my command has ever been this bad," Pelfrey told MLB's official website. "But it's unacceptable. I've been terrible. I feel bad for the guys behind me, having to go hit after standing out in the field for 40 minutes.
"I take the blame for this. This is my fault. It's unacceptable. I need to be a lot better. I need to figure it out pretty fast. It's embarrassing. I haven't been good enough for three starts. I've been pretty terrible. I'll figure it out."
His previous starts against Oakland (10-10) offer little inspiration. Pelfrey has lost both with 13 runs allowed in eight innings and two runs of support.
He's up against a fellow veteran who's had his own control struggles lately. Rich Hill (2-2, 3.32) has been the recipient of reasonable support but walked four while giving up one earned run and three hits in six innings of Thursday's 7-3 road win over the New York Yankees.
Hill has traded losses and wins in his first four starts and walked seven in 10 1/3 innings over his last two. What's remained consistent is his ability to make batters miss. The left-hander has 29 strikeouts in 19 innings, including two 10-strikeout games. His 13.74 per nine innings leads MLB.
"Just the fastball-breaking ball, we've been sticking with that combination and have the fastball play off the curveball and the curveball play off the fastball," Hill said. "It's imperative that you have some angle on your pitches and make sure that you can get that late velocity through the zone against them."
He's faced the Tigers out of the bullpen 11 times with a 6.10 ERA, and Miguel Cabrera is 3 for 3 with a home run and double.
The Tigers ended a four-game losing streak with a 7-3 series-opening win Monday with Ian Kinsler out of the lineup due to flu-like symptoms. They had been limited to five runs and a .144 average on the skid, but Cabrera went 4 for 4 with two home runs and four RBIs after going 2 for 25 in the previous seven games.
Oakland's streaky start to the season continued, losing its third straight after a six-game winning streak, four-game skid and three-game win steak. Jed Lowrie is batting .462 in his last seven games, but the A's have a 11.30 ERA from their starters on the most recent skid.
