The Detroit Tigers looked like a minor league team in a minor league ballpark, with the Las Vegas-bound A's temporarily playing in West Sacramento.
WEST SACRAMENTO, CA — The Detroit Tigers deserved to get swept by the Athletics. Subpar defense, shaky pitching and a stagnant offense put them on the wrong side of the three-game series against an inferior opponent.
It was embarrassing.
The Tigers looked like a minor league team in a minor league ballpark, with the Las Vegas-bound Athletics temporarily playing at Sutter Health Park — home of the Sacramento River Cats, the Triple-A affiliate of the San Francisco Giants.
"We had a really (expletive)-y series," manager A.J. Hinch said. "We didn't play well. We got beat on all facets of the game. So that's what I call this series. When you get outplayed on offense, defense, pitching, across the board, it's painful to watch sometimes and painful to experience as a team."
The three games — an 8-3 loss on Monday, Aug. 25, a 7-6 defeat in 10 innings on Tuesday, Aug. 26, and a 7-0 blowout on Wednesday, Aug. 27 — extended the Tigers' losing streak to four games, following an impressive 11-2 stretch.
It was just the third time the Tigers have been swept this season. The first two came from the Los Angeles Dodgers in March and the Pittsburgh Pirates in July.
"Definitely not a lot of good," Spencer Torkelson said. "It wasn't clean. But what are you going to do? Three games. They played their ass off. Tip your cap a little bit, but flush as fast as possible and foot back on the pedal."
The good news: The Tigers (78-57) still hold an 8½-game lead in the American League Central over the Kansas City Royals and trail the Toronto Blue Jays by just a half-game for the AL's best record. The bad news: The AL Central cushion won't feel as comfortable if the Tigers don't bounce back in their upcoming three-game series against the Royals at Kauffman Stadium, beginning Friday, Aug. 29.
There are 27 games left in the regular season.
"We're going to head to Kansas City and be better," Hinch said.
The poor defense stood out the most as the Athletics swept the Tigers in West Sacramento — charged with six errors in three games, among other blunders.
In Monday's 8-3 loss, Zach McKinstry had two fielding errors that led to five unearned runs, including one in the seventh inning immediately after Torkelson missed a scoop on an off-balance throw from Gleyber Torres. Those seventh-inning miscues opened the door for a grand slam.
In Tuesday's 7-6 loss, Colt Keith made a bad throw on a leadoff single in the third inning, leading to a run. He later dropped popups in seventh and eighth innings. McKinstry had a throwing error in the eighth inning that Torkelson couldn't pick. Riley Greene should've held the winning run at first base in the bottom of the 10th inning, but he threw home on a game-tying single with no chance to throw out the runner, allowing the winning run to reach second base. After Greene's play, the Athletics walked off the Tigers on a sacrifice bunt and two walks.
In Wednesday's 7-0 loss, Trey Sweeney pulled Torkelson off first base with a difficult but inaccurate throw for a single in the second inning, followed by a two-run home run. In the fourth inning, Casey Mize fielded a weak comebacker but sailed the ball past Torkelson, allowing a run to score.
The players took accountability for their uncharacteristic mistakes.
"Definitely frustrating," Keith said. "Pretty embarrassing show for me on the field. I misread some balls and didn't really field the ball clean all day. I felt really sped up. It sucks. I want to make those outs for our pitchers. The only way to go from here is forget about it, keep working and try to get better so I can be an asset to this team."
"I'm supposed to go to second instead of home," Greene said, "and maybe we're not in that position. It sucks to make that mistake, and it sucks to lose that game, but it's baseball. I'm going to make those mental errors. My goal is not to make them again after it happens once."
"I just rushed the throw there," Mize said. "It was way up the line. I didn't give Tork a shot. We got to play cleaner all the way around, including myself. I'm not throwing the ball well, and I made an error in the field. I got to keep guys off the bases, and making errors doesn't help that."
One sloppy series in Sacramento doesn't define the Tigers.
They almost always play clean baseball. They're prepared, focused and disciplined, with a process rooted in constant communication about the good and the bad after every game, whether they win or lose. For those reasons, the Tigers have been the best team in baseball for more than a year, posting an MLB-best 109-70 record over their last 179 games, dating back to Aug. 11, 2024. All that success isn't erased because the Athletics swept three games.
Still, the Tigers do have one big concern as October looms.
It's a top-heavy pitching staff.
Recently, the starting rotation is the biggest problem — possibly worse than the bullpen.
Reigning AL Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal leads the way with an MLB-best 2.28 ERA in 26 starts. Beyond their ace, who can the Tigers trust in a best-of-five ALDS against either the Houston Astros or Seattle Mariners?
Mize has a 3.95 ERA in 23 starts, including a 7.20 ERA in his last eight starts. Jack Flaherty has a 4.87 ERA in 26 starts, including eight starts with at least four earned runs. Charlie Morton has a 5.25 ERA in 28 games (22 starts), with a 4.61 ERA in five starts since the Tigers traded for him at the deadline. Chris Paddack has a 4.98 ERA in 26 starts, including a 5.13 ERA in five starts since the Tigers traded for him before the deadline.
Nobody is coming to save the rotation.
"Execution is the main thing here," said Mize, who made the All-Star Game after posting a 2.63 ERA in his first 15 starts. "That's what I need to improve."
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There aren't reasons to be concerned about getting to the postseason, as the Tigers' odds sat at 99.8% entering Thursday's games (per FanGraphs), but look under the hood, and there are reasons to worry about winning the World Series, or even advancing past the ALDS.
If the Tigers make a deep run, it will be by doing everything they failed to do against the Athletics, resulting in a three-game sweep. Simply put, the Tigers must get back to playing clean baseball in every aspect of the game.
Now, it's time to move on.
"I don't want to play another game here," Hinch said. "I'm ready to get out of Sacramento."
Contact Evan Petzold at [email protected] or follow him @EvanPetzold.
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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Tigers sloppy series in West Sacramento stirs concern
Category: Baseball
