LOS ANGELES — The Detroit Tigers stranded nine runners on the bases.
The first seven runners were stranded in the opening four innings against Dodgers right-hander Walker Buehler: two in the first inning, three in the second, one in the third and one in the fourth.
“I thought we swung the bats pretty well early,” Tigers manager A.J. Hinch said. “We didn’t get anything to show for it.”
By the middle innings, the Dodgers enjoyed a commanding lead. The Tigers brought the tying run to the plate with two outs in the ninth, but couldn’t connect, adding two more stranded runners.
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The Tigers entered Sunday in position to win the three-game series, thanks to Saturday’s victory that snapped a six-game losing streak. But the Dodgers put the Tigers to rest 6-3 in the finale at Dodger Stadium.
“We didn’t play well enough to win,” Hinch said. “But offensively, at least we’re inching closer.”
The Tigers (7-14) have lost seven of their past eight games.
Left-hander Eduardo Rodriguez, making his fifth start for the Tigers, allowed six runs (four earned runs) on eight hits. He didn’t walk anyone and struck out five batters, throwing 65 of 90 pitches for strikes.
The Dodgers scored one run in the first inning, three in the second and two in the sixth.
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The three runs in the second could have been avoided. Third baseman Jeimer Candelario botched a potential inning-ending double play on a grounder from Mookie Betts. He appeared to bobble the ball in his glove, then threw wild to first baseman Harold Castro.
“I think he was a little indecisive on what to do,” Hinch said. “If the ball takes you to the right, you go to third. If the ball takes you to the left, you go to second. The ball was hit right at him. He got caught a little dead-footed and put him out of position.”
“It happens,” Candelario said. “I was thinking about going to second base, and then the guy was just there. I tried to throw to first (base) right away, but Mookie Betts was running pretty hard. I rushed a little bit. I threw the ball not the right way.”
His throwing error allowed the Dodgers to score their second run and opened the door for them to score their third and fourth runs. In the sixth, the Dodgers scored their sixth run because of Javier Báez’s fielding error.
The ball skipped past him and rolled into center.
Detroit’s defense has made eight errors over its past six games.
“We make a critical mistake or two every game,” Hinch said, “and it’s costing us right now.”
The Tigers scored their first runs in the eighth inning, as Miguel Cabrera launched a two-run home run over the left-center wall. His swing produced a 103.8 mph exit velocity, and the ball traveled 426 feet. He drilled a fourth-pitch slider from right-handed reliever Phil Bickford.
It was Cabrera’s first homer in 2022 and his 503rd in his 20-year career. The 39-year-old also boasts 1,119 extra-base hits, tying him with George Brett for 18th in MLB history.
Candelario added a solo homer to lead off the ninth against left-handed reliever Justin Bruihl. Pinch-hitter Willi Castro then doubled to force the Dodgers to bring in righty Craig Kimbrel, who walked Báez but got the final two outs of the inning.
“We got to take care of the ball first,” Candelario said. “We got to play good defense, then everything will go from there. We’re going to hit. We know we’re going to hit. But we got to take care of the ball all the time.”
Like Cabrera, the homer from Candelario marked his first long ball this season.
“We need him to get going,” Hinch said. “He’s a big part of our offense. He always has been. Last year, he provided a big presence in the middle, especially the switch-hit component and especially against right-handed pitching.”
Busy on the bases
The Tigers had plenty of scoring opportunities, beginning in the first inning when Robbie Grossman worked a leadoff walk on six pitches.
He stole second base, then Austin Meadows singled to put two runners on with one out. Cabrera struck out swinging at a 93.7 mph cutter, and Harold Castro flied out to shortstop.
“Elite teams play defense,” Hinch said. “That’s what that team does. Their outfield goes and chases them down. They don’t make mistakes on the infield. The team that makes the most mistakes usually loses. We did.”
Jonathan Schoop and Tucker Barnhart tallied singles early in the second inning, and Grossman was drilled in the right hand by Buehler’s 92.8 mph cutter with two outs. The hit-by-pitch juiced the bases for Báez.
Seven of Báez’s 14 hits this season are with two outs.
This time, the 29-year-old couldn’t get the job done.
Báez struck out swinging on a fourth-pitch slider from Buehler that traveled way outside the strike zone. Buehler set him up with a third-pitch cutter at the top corner on the outside edge of the zone.
The Tigers wasted a two-out single from Harold Castro in the third inning and a pair of one-out singles from Barnhart and Akil Baddoo in the fourth. After Barnhart and Baddoo reached safely on weak hits, Eric Haase grounded into an inning-ending double play.
Haase entered in the second inning as a defensive replacement for Grossman, who exited with a right hand contusion.
Buehler tossed five scoreless innings on six hits and one walk with five strikeouts. The Tigers finished with three runs on 10 hits and two walks. They had 13 strikeouts, including six against the five arms out of the Dodgers’ bullpen.
“He’s a guy that’s got some good fastballs and cutters,” Candelario said. “You always want to put some good ABs against him. What can I say? He threw the ball the right way and stopped us. … We came up short today, but we’re going to get there.”
Rodriguez’s day
The Dodgers scored their first run in the first frame. The first two batters of the game — Betts and Freddie Freeman — notched singles, and Will Smith delivered an RBI single for Los Angeles’ 1-0 lead.
Three runs were added in the second.
The throwing error from Candelario put the Dodgers up 2-0. Freeman followed Betts with an RBI double on a 3-2 slider from Rodriguez. An ensuing groundout from Trea Turner made it 4-0.
“That happens,” Rodriguez said. “I just got to make the next pitch and try to get the next guy out. It happens, and that’s part of the game. I got to get ready for the next hitter.”
Rodriguez retired 12 batters in a row before the Dodgers struck again.
With one out in the sixth inning, Chris Taylor singled to left field and scored on Cody Bellinger’s RBI double to right field for a 5-0 margin. The double from Bellinger snapped an 0-for-20 streak.
“No matter which lineup it is, I got to execute my pitches and get guys out,” Rodriguez said. “I mean, I don’t care who I’m facing. It’s just executing pitches. That’s it.”
Rodriguez, signed to a five-year, $77 million contract this past offseason, recorded the second out and should have picked up the third out to end the inning without further damage.
But that’s when Báez made his fielding error.
The Dodgers went ahead 6-0 and Hinch pulled Rodriguez.
The 29-year-old was replaced by right-handed reliever Drew Hutchison, who retired Betts on three pitches for the third out. Hutchison tossed 1⅓ scoreless innings; lefty reliever Andrew Chafin added one scoreless frame.
“In the first two innings, I was just having a little trouble getting command of my pitches,” Rodriguez said. “I felt like I threw too many fastballs in the first two innings, and they took advantage of it and scored those runs.”
For his 90 pitches, Rodriguez used 27 four-seam fastballs (30%), 24 changeups (27%), 16 cutters (18%), 15 sinkers (17%) and eight sliders (9%). He recorded four swings and misses: one fastball, two changeups and one cutter.
Rodriguez logged 14 called strikes.
Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him on Twitter @EvanPetzold. Read more on the Detroit Tigers and sign up for our Tigers newsletter.