By the time the All-Star celebrations roll around in mid-July each year, everyone in baseball needs a vacation, but the Tigers were particularly in need of one. The Tigers went into the break with a four-game losing streak and an overworked bullpen, despite having the best record in the AL and an MLB-high six players on the All-Star team. The club would undoubtedly benefit from a four-day break.
Regretfully, they were not granted one additional day off. The Tigers lost a pitching duel 2-0 against the Rangers at Globe Life Field on Friday, their first game back in action. The Detroit bullpen had minimal tolerance for error and there were few scoring possibilities.
Even though they still have the greatest record after 98 games of any Tigers squad since 2007, the Tigers have now lost five straight games for the first time this season.
Manager A.J. Hinch stated, “I don’t think our guys think about streaks either way.” “We’ll recover and everything will be alright. In addition to what we’ve done for more than ninety games, we need to play a little bit better, make the proper pitches, make the plays, and mount a little offensive effort.
Tigers reliever Tommy Kahnle received the loss on Friday after giving up a two-run double to Corey Seager in the eighth inning, despite Detroit’s efforts to hold Texas to a scoreless tie through seven innings. With just three singles and two walks in his 5 2/3 innings, Rangers starter Patrick Corbin was too strong for the Tigers to overcome.
Hinch remarked, “We struggled to put together quality at-bats.”
For five straight games, Detroit has been trying to become the first MLB team to reach 60 wins this season, but it has failed. Nevertheless, despite the losing streak, no team has yet to equal the Tigers’ 59 victories. Furthermore, even among the best teams in the league, losing streaks of five games are not unusual; in fact, three of the six division leaders currently leading have experienced losing streaks of at least five games this season. The Blue Jays and Phillies have both accumulated five-game losing streaks, while the Dodgers just lost seven straight games.
Gleyber Torres, a second baseman for the Tigers, stated, “It’s part of the season.” It seems strange, but I would rather it happen now than in September, therefore I don’t think it will last forever. In our division, we’re still in a strong position. We don’t take anything for granted, but this is the current situation.
The Tigers now own the biggest lead of any division leader, with an 11-game advantage in the American League Central. Other than five games, nobody else is ahead. That fact, combined with starting pitcher Reese Olson’s encouraging performance in his third appearance after coming off the disabled list after almost two months, was about all the comfort the Tigers could draw from Friday’s defeat.
It was Olson’s second hit of the evening, and he left after giving up a double to start the sixth inning. He struck out six and walked one. Since returning off the injured list, Olson’s strikeout percentage has decreased; in two starts, he had struck out only four opposition batters across 9 1/3 innings. In contrast to his five whiffs against the Rays on July 9, he had 13 swings and misses on Friday. He swung all six of his strikeouts on Friday.