Ever since the Chicago White Sox series last week in which the Tigers got swept, the wind seems to have gone out of their offenses’ sails. The Tigers pitched pretty well in this one, but the bats were asleep yet again as they dropped their seventh game in their last eighth by a score of 3-1, and lost the series to the Royals in the process. They’ll try to salvage one on Sunday.
From the start, this was just another frustrating effort from the Tigers offense against Michael Wacha. The veteran right-hander’s deep pitch mix and deception has often given them trouble the past two seasons. Kevin McGonigle and Gleyber Torres each lifted weak flyouts to start the game. Colt Keith walked and Dillon Dingler blooped in a single, but Zach McKinstry flew out to end the first inning.
Drew Anderson came into this one looking for a good start after some mediocre efforts since moving into the rotation. He gave up a single to Bobby Witt Jr., who stole second base, but escaped the inning unscathed as Salvador Perez grounded out to Torres.
Brett Callahan got a good look at all the ways veteran major league starters can pitch you and struck out to open the second inning. Spencer Torkelson got eaten up by the curveball and struck out, while Max Clark lined out to first. Anderson gave up a walk to Nick Loftin but no more.
In the third, Wacha handled Hao-Yu Lee, and then McGonigle and Torres again with ease. Kyle Isbel, the nine hitter, jumped a first pitch fastball in the heart of the plate and smoked a solo shot to open the scoring in this one. Anderson took care of the next three hitters in order to end the inning. Anderson came into this one with a good .283 wOBA against his fourseamer, and using that pitch more, and more effectively, is a big piece of turning him into a quality starting pitcher. The fastball is effective, but that still doesn’t mean you can groove them, and the fastball command has certainly been an issue at times.
Colt Keith opened the fourth with a rocket to center field, but Isbel hauled it in. Dingler was nicked on the elbow guard by a curveball, but McKinstry struck out, and Callahan grounded out.
In the bottom half, it was Salvador Perez who got a poorly located fastball. In a 1-2 count, Dingler signaled for a fastball up, but it was more center away, and the veteran catcher crushed a deep fly ball to center field for a solo shot to give the Royals a 2-0 lead. Anderson gave up a one-out single to Loftin up the middle, but he popped up Michael Massey and Tyler Tolbert grounded out to send us to the fifth.
Hao-Yu Lee cut the Royals lead in half in the top of the fifth. After Torkelson and Clark struck out, Lee got a 1-1 sinker on the inner third and destroyed it, launching a 446 foot homer that left the bat at 110 mph. Lee now has two homers and three hits total in five ABs against Wacha. At least someone sees the ball well out of his hand. 2-1 Royals.
View LinkAnderson kept the momentum with a quick 1-2-3 inning. Isbel grounded out, and Carter Jensen was dusted by a high fourseamer to strike out. Witt Jr. grounded out to end the inning.
Wacha’s pitch count was still in pretty good shape at 72 pitches entering the top of the sixth. He got Torres on another routine ground out as the veteran second baseman reached for a slider breaking down and away to start the inning. Colt Keith correctly challenged a first pitch strike call to get into a hitter’s count. In a 1-2 count, Wacha floated another high changeup that fooled him and was fouled back, and Keith watched a sinker right down the gut for strike three. Dingler’s recent struggles continued with another ground out to end the frame.
AJ Hinch left Anderson in to face the left-handed hitting Jac Caglianone to open the bottom of the sixth. The changeup made him a better option with Tanner Rainey poised to take over. Instead, Caglianone smoked a hot ground ball double to right. Hinch made the switch, and Rainey got a ground out from Perez, moving Caglianone to third with one out. A good 2-2 slider from Rainey got a sharp grounder to Torkelson, and Caglianone had to hold as the Tigers’ first baseman stepped on first base for the second out. That left it up to Nick Loftin, and Dingler came out for a quick chat with Rainey. The right-hander is currently sitting 96 up to 98 mph with his fastball, making him a little more effective than in recent years. He fed Loftin plenty of breaking balls to get to a 2-2 count, but then yanked a fastball into the dirt toward the other batter’s box. Dingler couldn’t backhand it, and Caglianone scored on the wild pitch. Loftin popped out, but the way things were going that was a tough run to give up. 3-1 Royals after six.
McKinstry grounded out to first to start the seventh. Wacha was only nearing 90 pitches at this point and was likely to get the whole inning if he could go 1-2-3. He could not, however. Callahan got a first pitch changeup that he was way ahead on. Wacha tried it again, and Callahan ripped it down the right field line for a double. The Royals bullpen quickly got to work warming up as Torkelson stepped in. The first baseman has had little to no success against Wacha in his career and it held true as he popped out to Caglianone. So it was up to Max Clark to get Callahan home. Wacha threw him two changeups, one fouled off and one up, and then came back to jam him with a cutter and Clark grounded out to second. That was the end of the night for Wacha, but the Tigers were rapidly running out of time to prevent a seventh loss in their last eight games.
Lefty Drew Sommers, whose nickname in the cluhouse is Pontoon as we learned today, took over in the bottom of the seventh. We kind of preferred something more traditional like Big Nasty. He got Massey to ground out ot McGonigle at shortstop. He locked up Tolbert with a good swing back sinker on the inner edge for the second out. Isbel just couldn’t pick up Sommers arm slot and took a sinker down the middle for strike three. With much improved strike throwing and a bit of added velocity to go with his tough arm slot and huge extension, Sommers is pitching the best ball in the Tigers’ pen at this point.
Old friend Alex Lange took the bump for the Royals in the eighth. Lee grounded out to Witt Jr. to start the inning. McGonigle flew out to Isbel, and Torres grounded out to end the frame.
The Tigers offense is the second best in baseball by wRC+ and fourth best in run scoring since June 1, but the sweep at the hands of the White Sox seems to have sucked the second wind out of them. The power has largely dried up, and some of the rookies are getting their first taste of the struggle.
Sommers was really feeling it in the eighth. He whiffed Jensen on a nasty slider and then just reared back and blew Witt Jr. away with heat. Caglianone threw his bat at a slider away and grounded out weakly for a quick inning. And so it was last call for the Tigers.
They would face one of the all-time great closers, Craig Kimbrel, though he is not that guy anymore. No doubt Kenley Jansen can sympathize. He would face Colt Keith, Dingler, and McKinstry. Keith grounded out to second to start things off. Dingler took a fastball for a called strike three just above the zone and didn’t challenge it either, suggesting that the frustrations are mounting for him lately. McKinstry waited Kimbrel out and drew himself a walk, and so the game was in Brett Callahan’s hands. Kimbrel stepped off after a first pitch strike, but Caglianone wasn’t holding the runner, making it a balk to move McKinstry to second. Callahan yanked a curveball foul and then fought off a pair of fastballs. A high fourseamer drew the whiff, and the Tigers have lost seven of their last eight.
First pitch is set for 2:10 p.m. ET on Sunday. The Tigers are going with a bullpen game centered around lefty Andrew Sears, who will be called up for his major league debut. You can read more about him here.
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