The scoreless drought from the Detroit Tigers had reached 22 innings and was about to be extended in the fourth inning by New York Yankees starter Jameson Taillon. But then Jeimer Candelario belted a 378-foot home run over the right-field wall.
While Candelario’s second homer this season broke the Tigers’ scoreless streak — which dated back to Thursday — it wasn’t enough for the Tigers (8-20) in a 6-4 loss at Yankee Stadium. Jonathan Schoop’s two-run bloop single in the seventh and a solo homer from Niko Goodrum in the eighth were responsible for the other three runs.
The loss — the Tigers’ fourth in a row — gives Detroit a 2-14 record in its past 16 games. The offense is hitting .179 (87-for-484) with 30 runs, 29 walks and 171 strikeouts during that span.
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In just this most recent losing streak, the Tigers have been outscored 30-5. Manager AJ Hinch’s squad made a small improvement Saturday by going 2-for-11 with runners in scoring position. They generated six walks and seven hits, but struck out 13 times.
Before the fourth inning, the last run by the Tigers came in the fourth inning of a 3-1 loss in Game 1 of Thursday’s doubleheader against the Chicago White Sox. The results in the next two contests: 11-0 in Game 2 of the doubleheader and 10-0 in Friday’s series opener with the Yankees.
Detroit faces New York in the series finale at 1:10 p.m. Sunday. Right-hander Jose Urena is starting, opposed by righty Corey Kluber. Urena has made three consecutive seven-inning starts and boasts a 3.77 ERA.
Turnbull tries
An eight-pitch battle between Tigers starter Spencer Turnbull and Yankees slugger Aaron Judge in the fifth inning became the go-ahead at-bat for New York, as Judge roped a double to left field. That scored former Birmingham Brother Rice star DJ LeMahieu, who previously singled, stole second and advanced to third on a throwing error by catcher Grayson Greiner. (LeMahieu also scored the Yankees’ first run, in the third on a single by Gleyber Torres.)
Turnbull retired the next three batters, but he stumbled in the sixth inning, with a hit-by-pitch (on an 0-2 count to Aaron Hicks) and a walk to the two Yankees he faced before AJ Hinch pulled him in favor of Jose Cisnero.
Those runners scored on a single by Judge with two outs. Later in the sixth, Torres pushed home two additional runs on a single to left field. His hit chased Cisnero, forcing Hinch to bring rookie Alex Lange out of the bullpen.
Turnbull was charged with four runs on five hits and three walks, with one strikeout, in five-plus innings. It was his third start since returning from the COVID-19 injured list midway through spring training. He owns a 4.50 ERA through 16 innings.
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Turnbull threw 54 of his 94 pitches for strikes. He only got two swings-and-misses, one each with his four-seam fastball and sinker, and used 30 four-seamers, 27 sinkers, 24 sliders, eight curveballs and five changeups.
His efficiency fluctuated: 15 pitches in the first inning, 10 in the second, 31 in the third, 10 in the fourth, 19 in the fifth and nine in the sixth (to just two batters). Turnbull’s sinker averaged 95.3 mph and topped out at 96.8 mph.
Failed opportunities
As Taillon labored through the fifth inning, the Tigers had their best chance at scoring multiple runs in weeks: Former two-time American League MVP Miguel Cabrera stepped into the batter’s box with the bases loaded and two outs.
But Taillon struck out Cabrera with an elevated 94 mph fastball to end the inning. Cabrera finished 0-for-5 with two strikeouts.
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Taillon threw five innings of one-run ball, allowing three hits and three walks. He got eight strikeouts and tossed 52 of his 79 pitches for strikes. He got 16 swings-and-misses with 10 four-seam fastballs, four curveballs and two sliders.
In the sixth, the Tigers put runners on the corners with two outs, but Greiner grounded out to end the inning.
28 games, 28 lineups
The Tigers entered Saturday with a league-worst .199 batting average through 27 games. They were also at the bottom in OBP (.257), SLG (.345), OPS (.602) and strikeout rate (30.6%) and — in a rare bright spot — only the second-worst walk rate (6.9%).
No wonder Hinch sent out his 28th different lineup for Saturday’s game.
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“This season, as a whole, has grown into that frustration,” Hinch said before the two-run loss. “It’s unique because it’s the entirety of the team, for the most part. When you turn to the locker guy on your right and your left, you’re usually looking for encouragement from someone that’s doing a little better. Collectively, they’re looking around trying to find some encouragement, and it’s hard to find right now.”
The Tigers have just one batter hitting above .225: Candelario, at .279. They have just four more hitters topping .200: Wilson Ramos (.224), Rule 5 draft pick Akil Baddoo (.212), Goodrum (.211) and Grossman (.205). Cabrera has a .125 batting average through 14 games, and Willi Castro went 0-for-4 with four strikeouts and one walk to drop to .191.
Evan Petzold is a sports reporter at the Detroit Free Press. Contact him at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him on Twitter @EvanPetzold. Read more on the Detroit Tigers and sign up for our Tigers newsletter.