CLEVELAND — It happened fast. And without a ball even leaving the infield. The Detroit Tigers took a 2-0 lead into the bottom of the sixth inning in a crucial game against the Cleveland Guardians on Tuesday only to see their ace fall apart on the mound in several different and dramatic ways.
“We did a lot of uncharacteristic things, and it’s hurting us,” Tigers manager A.J. Hinch said after the Tigers’ 5-2 loss.
First, Tarik Skubal tried to flip a bunted ball through his legs with his back to first base, only to see it sail over teammate Spencer Torkelson’s head, putting runners on second and third. It was the second of two consecutive bunts by the Guardians, who came into the night trailing the Tigers by just one game after being down as many as 10 1/2 on Sept.1.
After a third bunt in the inning went awry — Skubal’s 99 mph fastball struck designated hitter David Fry in the face, and he had to be carted off — Skubal threw a wild pitch and then balked. Both of those led to runs.
Game. Set. Match. The Tigers have been caught in the AL Central.
“There’s some frustration,” Skubal said. “Losing isn’t fun, and we’ve been losing a lot.”
Hinch added: “He chose to do the emergency flip [through his legs], which is not easy to do and didn’t produce a good play. That is an example of an uncharacteristic mistake piling up on us at the worst time.”
That’s an understatement. The American League’s best team in the first half has fallen hard, losers of seven in a row. Not only did the Guardians catch Detroit in the standings but they also secured the tiebreaker, in case the teams match records when the regular season ends later this weekend. Nothing is going right for the Tigers.
“We didn’t play our game tonight,” catcher Dillon Dingler said. “I know that’s redundant to say over the last two weeks.
“We’ve been this way for a couple series now. We definitely feel some of the pressure. We have to eliminate it. We have to find ways to stay loose and home in on what we have to do and go out there and do it.”
The Tigers played that part of being loose before the series opener: Skubal was working on his crossword puzzle, others were playing ping pong, while Hinch was advocating a positive perspective. Who wouldn’t want to be playing meaningful games and control their own destiny, he opined in the dugout several hours before first pitch. But then the game started, and a win once again slipped through their hands.
And if those sixth-inning miscues weren’t enough, the Tigers also struck out 19 times. That tied a franchise record for Cleveland pitchers.
“They won the strike zone on both sides tonight,” Hinch said. “They dominated tonight. We didn’t.”
The days are running dangerously low for Detroit to turn things around. Cleveland has all the momentum. Playing at home didn’t help the Tigers last week, nor did a change of scenery Tuesday with their ace on the mound. But they still control their destiny even though their future is as muddied as ever. A wild-card berth or perhaps a stunning ouster altogether from the postseason are growing possibilities.
“Have to show up tomorrow and win a baseball game,” outfielder Riley Greene said. “We believe in each other. We have to play better baseball and we have to win. That’s what it comes down to.”