The Detroit Tigers played a miserable final four innings.
Manager AJ Hinch was ejected with one out in the fifth inning, and everything went downhill from there.
The Tigers (58-65) allowed the Los Angeles Angels to score 11 runs after the fifth in Thursday’s 13-10 loss at Comerica Park, squandering an eight-run lead. Los Angeles forced Hinch and bench coach George Lombard — the acting manager following the ejection — to burn through six pitchers.
Losers of four in a row, the Tigers were swept by the Angels in three.
“We didn’t do anything right on the mound at the end of the game,” Hinch said. “We struggled to throw strikes. We struggled to control damage. They kept pecking away at every reliever. This loss stings. It’s a bad loss. … We let this one get away from us. It’s completely on us. We’ll move on and get to the next series, but it’s a bad loss.”
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Rookie right-hander Matt Manning started and pitched into the fifth inning. He allowed two runs on five hits and four walks over 4⅔ innings, striking out four and throwing 60 of 96 pitches for strikes. His high pitch count was a result of command issues.
Both runs happened in the second inning: Brandon Marsh drilled an RBI triple and Max Stassi followed with an RBI groundout.
“Once we get a lead, it’s my job to keep the lead, bury them, keep the pressure on them and throw the ball over the plate,” Manning said. “I thought for the most part, I did a good job with that. Just some situations where I could have done better.”
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The Tigers’ downfall began in the sixth inning, though, when the Angels scored six runs against relievers Derek Holland (three earned runs) and Joe Jimenez (three earned runs). Kyle Funkhouser wiggled out of the sixth, but when he returned for the seventh, he put two on with two outs.
“We didn’t execute pitches,” Hinch said.
Michael Fulmer replaced him and allowed an RBI double to Jared Walsh — the run charged to Funkhouser — before getting the final out. Fulmer’s performance spiraled downward upon returning for the eighth, giving up a two-run homer to Stassi for an 11-10 Angels lead.
All six pitchers struggled: Manning (two runs), Holland (three), Jimenez (three), Funkhouser (one), Fulmer (three) and Ian Krol (one).
“We’re not in a good place with the bullpen,” Hinch said. “We’ll have to talk about it. We’ll obviously regroup. Confidence-wise, we’re going to be fine. This is a good group of relievers. They’re going to bounce back from that.”
Cabrera waits for No. 500
The scoring began in the first inning, as back-to-back singles from Jonathan Schoop and Jeimer Candelario set up Miguel Cabrera’s RBI single to center for a 1-0 lead. A passed ball advanced two runners into scoring position, and Daz Cameron — in his first game back from the injured list — hit an RBI groundout.
The Angels quickly tied the game, but Cabrera did more damage in the second inning.
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Stuck in a slump, Zack Short cranked a fastball from Angels starter Jose Quintana into the left-field seats to open the second with a 3-2 lead. Four consecutive singles — Dustin Garneau, Robbie Grossman, Schoop and Candelario — made it 4-2 and loaded the bases for Cabrera.
He turned on an inside two-seam fastball from Angels reliever Aaron Slegers and pulled it down the third-base line. Cabrera’s 10th double of the season plated three runs to give the Tigers a 7-2 advantage. The 38-year-old went 2-for-5 with four RBIs.
One home run away from No. 500 in his career, Cabrera missed out on his final chance to reach the milestone during the latest homestand at Comerica Park.
The Tigers don’t return home until Aug. 27.
Hinch, Jimenez tossed
Hinch picked up his first ejection as the Tigers’ manager in the fifth inning.
The disagreement involved Hinch, home plate umpire Quinn Wolcott and second base umpire Hunter Wendelstedt, who was served as the crew chief. It marked Hinch’s 17th ejection in his eight-year managerial career and his first since April 3, 2019.
Hinch was frustrated because of a drawn-out replay request from Angels manager Joe Maddon. (A manager has just 20 seconds to request a review, according to MLB rules.) After a longer-than-usual request, the umpires reviewed the play and called catcher interference on Garneau, giving Justin Upton a free pass to first base.
“It’s unacceptable,” Hinch said. “I thought it was handled wrong. When the play happened, they called a foul ball, which was a missed call. I don’t blame Justin Upton or arguing. I don’t blame Joe Maddon for coming out and having what should have been a brief discussion with the home plate umpire, they go to the headset. We have a process.
“Hunter at second base came really late. I don’t know why the continued conversation. It’s Joe’s right to come out, and I don’t have any problem with Joe coming out. But we’re icing the pitcher there on a reviewable play. There’s a process put in place to speed up the game when there’s a discrepancy on a call like this. So when I came out to talk to Hunter after the three-and-a-half minute delay, it was to tell him that I thought he was wrong.”
As Hinch walked back to the dugout, he was ejected.
He immediately turned around and marched alongside Wolcott toward the pitcher’s mound, nearby where Wendelstedt stood. Hinch shouted in their faces and then exited.
“When I was past the line going back to the dugout, (Wendelstedt) kept screaming that it was bullshit that I was putting it on him and then he tosses me out of the game,” Hinch said. “That’s the definition of bullshit. That wasn’t part of the end of the game and how it all played out, but it was handled wrong from the beginning, it was handled wrong at the end.”
In the sixth inning, Jimenez took over with one out and the bases loaded. He allowed an RBI single and two bases-loaded walks. (The Angels to cut their deficit to 10-5.) When Lombard removed him, Jimenez argued balls and strikes with Wolcott.
The comments from Jimenez earned him the first ejection of his career.
Adding runs
Add-on runs from the Tigers in the fourth and fifth innings were crucial, at least until the Angels completed their comeback.
Candelario and Willi Castro pounded solo home runs in the fourth for a 9-2 lead. It was Castro’s second straight game with a homer and his ninth long ball this season. Candelario’s blast marked No. 10 for him in 2021.
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Schoop doubled to score Grossman in the fifth, giving the Tigers their final run and a 10-2 lead.
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.