Detroit Tigers Fall Flat Against Cleveland Indians

When Kyle Lobstein returned to the Detroit Tigers, Friday night, he came back to a team much different than the one he left.

The young left-hander last pitched in May, when Detroit were still contenders, and both David Price and Yoenis Cespedes were still in the clubhouse. In his most recent start, however, Lobstein was pitching for a team that is 61-73, 21.5 games back in the American League Central, and currently in last place.

Lobstein himself did little to improve the Tigers’ recent results.

The 26 year-old held Cleveland scoreless for two innings but the wheels fell off after that. First, Jerry Sands drove in Abraham Almonte when he hit a two-run home-run off Lobstein, and then in the fifth inning, things only got worse.

To begin, Giovanny Urshela singled home Sands. Then, Michael Brantley doubled home Urshela just a few batters later. And finally, a hit batter and a walk busted the game open, as the gap widened to 6-0.

On the night, Lobstein ended up being charged with six earned runs, struck out just two, and allowed eight hits.

However, he was not alone in offering up a lackluster performance. Against Indians’ starter Josh Tomlin, the Detroit offense mustered up just four hits, and scored only one run, on a Miguel Cabrera single. Tomlin ended up pitching all nine innings and striking out six Detroit hitters.

The poor performance, on both offense, and defense, is yet another disappointing loss for the Tigers who, according to Jon Heyman, may have stopped playing for their manager, Brad Ausmus, who is now firmly on the hot seat.

Ausmus, and his team, will try and rebound Saturday night when they face off against Cleveland in the second of two games against the Indians. The Tigers will pit Alfredo Simon against Danny Salazar. Simon is 11-9 with a 5.09 ERA, while Salazar is 12-7 with a 3.27 ERA. The game will take place at 7:08 PM, and will be broadcast on Fox-Sports Detroit and 97.1 The Ticket.

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