Tigers set sights on weekend in KC after rough series vs. A's
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WEST SACRAMENTO -- Tigers manager A.J. Hinch knows it doesn’t take much to alter the mood around a team during a 162-game season.
Before Monday’s series opener against the Athletics, Hinch was asked how the Tigers planned to handle the final month of the regular season after a recent hot streak built them a 10 1/2-game advantage in the American League Central. The Detroit skipper noted that a so-called “comfortable” lead might not be safe for long, pointing to the questions he received about his club during a dismal 1-12 stretch in July.
“Things can change in a heartbeat,” Hinch said.
A tough three-game set at Sutter Health Park proved Hinch exactly right. With Wednesday’s 7-0 loss, the Tigers were swept by the A’s in a series that exposed Detroit’s situational hitting, its starting rotation and its defensive shortcomings.
“We had a really [bad] series,” Hinch said. “We didn’t play well. We got beat on all facets of the game. … I think when you get outplayed on offense, defense, pitching, kind of across the board, it’s painful to watch sometimes and painful to experience as a team.”
The Tigers managed just two hits and struck out seven times in seven innings against rookie starter Luis Morales on Wednesday. One of those hits was a one-out triple by Spencer Torkelson in the second inning, but Wenceel Pérez struck out and Zach McKinstry’s line drive was snagged by A’s second baseman Zack Gelof to end the threat.
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Detroit only got one other runner past first base thanks to a pair of walks in the third. After coming into the series batting .269 (sixth in MLB) with an .806 OPS (third) with runners in scoring position, the Tigers went just 3-for-26 (.115) with RISP across their three-game trip to West Sacramento.
Their struggles with runners on might not have mattered (in the first two games of the series, anyway) had the Tigers’ top pitchers been at their best. All three of their starters -- Tarik Skubal on Monday, Charlie Morton on Tuesday and Casey Mize on Wednesday -- allowed five or more runs.
Mize, who gave up nine hits without recording a strikeout in an odd start his previous time out, was tagged for a two-run homer in the second inning by a struggling Gelof. After throwing 58 pitches in the first two frames alone, Mize was pulled after walking first baseman Nick Kurtz with one out in the fourth.
The right-hander allowed seven hits and five earned runs, walking two and striking out four. Mize has a 6.19 ERA in seven starts since the All-Star break.
"Just way too many mistakes over the heart of the plate,” Mize said. “Too many three-ball counts, it felt like -- just not ending the at-bat. Frustrating one again for sure.”
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As it did all series, defense played a role in Mize’s subpar outing. The pitcher was part of the problem Wednesday, snagging a Gelof tapper to the third-base side of the mound but firing well wide of first base to bring in another A’s run.
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It was one of two errors in the game for the Tigers, who committed two miscues in each game of the series. Their six errors were their most in a three-game set since committing six from April 16-18, 2024, against the Rangers. That total doesn’t count several failed picks at first base from Torkelson or Colt Keith’s dropped popup-turned-double play on Tuesday, either. On Monday, five of six runs charged to Skubal were unearned.
"We’ve got to play cleaner baseball all the way around -- obviously, including myself,” Mize said. “I’m not throwing the ball well, and I made an error in the field as well. We’ve got to keep guys off the bases, and making errors doesn’t help that.”
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Giving the red-hot Athletics extra outs was hardly a recipe for success. Happy to capitalize, the A’s improved to 21-14 (.600) since the All-Star break, the second-best record in the AL. The Tigers (78-57) have another tough task ahead of them -- a three-game set at Kauffman Stadium against the Royals, their closest competitors in the AL Central (8 1/2 games back) -- but they’re ready to turn the page on a tough series.
In Kansas City, Hinch promised, the Tigers will be better. Then again, they’d kind of have to be.
"I don’t want to play another game here,” Hinch said. “I can tell you that, based on how the last three went. I’m ready to get out of [West] Sacramento and get on to the next one.”