Struggling Detroit Tigers need to 'get our swagger back' amid rough stretch, mental lapses

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3 days ago

PITTSBURGH — The Detroit Tigers have lost eight of their last nine games.
The rough stretch for the Tigers reached a new low point in an 8-5 loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates on Tuesday, July 22, at PNC Park, with several mental mistakes on display.
A struggling offense and a tired bullpen are responsible for most of the recent losses, but in this case, the Tigers looked sloppy for the first time in a long time.
"We had a really bad mental game today," manager A.J. Hinch said after Tuesday's loss. "That's really rare for this team. We paid for it. They're just mistakes that we know we can fix, and we will fix. We will be better."
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Maybe it's trying to do too much.
Maybe it's trying too hard to be perfect.
"Maybe it's this stretch," said first baseman Spencer Torkelson, who made the worst mental mistake. "We don't want a game like this to happen with all these mess ups, but if it's going to happen, we're going to use it as a time to reset and refocus ourselves."
The third inning told the story of the entire game.
Oneil Cruz hit a rocket that should've been caught by center fielder Parker Meadows, but he lost the ball in the sun. Ke'Bryan Hayes followed with a chopper to third baseman Zach McKinstry, whose throw eluded an outstretched Torkelson at first base for a throwing error. As the ball rolled into foul territory and the runner advanced to third, Torkelson jogged after it without urgency. Cruz noticed the lack of effort and took advantage, sprinting home to score.
"Everyone knows that was terrible," Torkelson said. "I just, mentally, didn't even look. He's aggressive, and I got to know that after that play, he's thinking I'm falling asleep, and I did."
The mistake cost the Tigers one run.
In the dugout, Torkelson apologized to his teammates and coaches.
"He took the end of the play off," Hinch said. "He felt terrible. He just fell asleep. He was very accountable. He's not a guy that generally has those mistakes."
The other mistakes in Tuesday's loss: Wenceel Pérez failed to touch home plate on what should've been a sacrifice fly. A strikeout by reliever Carlos Hernández skipped to the backstop and allowed the batter to reach safely, leading to a three-run inning. Catcher Jake Rogers tried to throw out a runner stealing third base, but the ball deflected off the batter's bat.
It was the Tigers' worst performance in 102 games.
"We are a much better team and a cleaner team than what we've shown," Hinch said. "We've been trending with some struggles that we know we can fix. We know we can be better. This group is confident, but we got to wear it while we're going through it. The reality is, we haven't played our best, and it's cost us."
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Every player who spoke to reporters after Tuesday's game didn't hesitate to take responsibility — no excuses — for the sloppiest game of this rough stretch.
"I just look at myself," said right-hander Casey Mize, who allowed five runs (four earned runs) on 10 hits across four innings, as his ERA jumped from 2.63 to 3.40 in his last two starts. "I'm not getting them off the field quick enough and not setting the tone early and not giving us a chance to win. It's on me."
"We're struggling," said Rogers, who hit a three-run home run in the fifth inning. "We just need to clean up the hustle. We're a hustle team, and we have fun. Once we get both those things back, we're going to hit the ground running."
"We definitely lost some focus on those plays," said Torkelson, who had one single and two doubles, "and that's part of it, but if it's going to happen, it's a fine time to let it happen now and then refocus and ball out for the next 50-whatever games."
There's no reason to hit the panic button.
Not yet, at least.
The Tigers (60-42) have the third-best record in MLB, trailing only the Milwaukee Brewers and Chicago Cubs. Not only do the Tigers have the American League's best record, but they're also better than the Los Angeles Dodgers, Toronto Blue Jays and Houston Astros, among many others.
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In the AL Central, the first-place Tigers on July 8 had a 14-game lead within the division. Two weeks later, that lead over the Cleveland Guardians is down to nine games — a five-game swing in the standings over nine games.
"I'm just going to look at the long-term view: We're still leading the division by a ton, and we have 60 wins," Mize said. "That's probably more so who we are than the last 10 games or so. That's kind of how I view it."
The Tigers were the first MLB team to achieve 60 wins, just like they were the first team to reach the 30, 40, 50 and 55-win milestones — doing so despite a 14-17 record since June 14 and a 1-8 record since July 9.
The players expect to bounce back.
"We could easily be the first team to 70 wins," Torkelson said. "We just got to get our swagger back. That comes with the refocus. We're a really good team. We just got to play like it."
Contact Evan Petzold at [e-mail] or follow him @EvanPetzold.
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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Tigers expect to reset after mental lapses in loss vs Pirates