Detroit Tigers Continue Woes with Loss in Opener to Rays

The Detroit Tigers continued their losing woes Monday night in the series opener against the Tampa Bay Devil Rays falling 5-2.  The Tigers fell to their season worst record of 48-51 and three games under .500 and 4.5 games behind in the wild card race.

The Tigers have continued to look average after getting spanked in their series against the lowly Red Sox in Fenway over the past weekend.  In order to be competitive, they need to beat sub .500 teams like the Red Sox and other wild card contenders like Tampa Bay and Baltimore.  More importantly, with their weakened pitching staff they need to win the games where Anibal Sanchez and David Price start.  They keep failing at all of these efforts.

Sanchez pitched only 5 1/3 innings taking the loss and his record to 10-8 giving up eight hits and three earned runs.  Three earned runs should keep this potent Tiger offense in the game, but the bullpen and namely the unreliable Bruce Rondon gave up two earned runs in the bottom of the eighth after the Tigers brought the game to 3-2.

The Tigers offense went quiet for the second night in a row only hitting five hits in the entire game.  The hero offensively was Yoenis Cespedes again who hit his sixteenth homer in a solo shot in the top of the seventh edging the Tigers closer at 3-1.  Cespedes struck again in the eighth inning with his second RBI of the game when he singled in Ian Kinsler on a single to left field.

The Rays offensive hero was Curt Casali whot hit two home runs for the Rays.  His first was a solo shot in the bottom of the third giving the Rays a 1-0 lead and then again in the bottom of the eighth to push the Rays further away 5-2 on a two run shot.  Trivia fans know Casali was traded by the Tigers by to Tampa for Kyle Lobstein in 2013.  He is also a Vanderbilt grad like famous Commodore, David Price.

The Tigers try to regroup and prove to be buyers tomorrow with David Price throwing against Jake Odorizzi at 7:10 at Tropicana Field in St. Pete.  The bigger question will be whether or not MCB Editor Matt Pelc makes the trip!?!?