Detroit — On Wednesday, the day before he was to make his third start since coming off the restricted list, Eduardo Rodriguez talked about the last piece of the puzzle that needed to come back to form — his velocity.
“That’s the only part I’m still building up,” he said. “The rest, everything else is fine. The location, the command, it’s right where I want it. If I’m talking about building something up, it’s more about the velocity. That’s the only thing I feel is not 100 percent yet.”
Funny thing about baseball. Sometimes it randomly knocks set pieces off the puzzle.
Rodriguez had his velocity back Thursday. His fastball sat at 92 mph and was hitting 94. But the other stuff wasn’t there — the command, the location.
Rodriguez was KO’d after just four innings, allowing six runs (five earned) as the Seattle Mariners completed the sweep of the Tigers at Comerica Park, 7-0. It was the 18th time the Tigers have been shut out this season.
BOX SCORE: Mariners 7, Tigers 0
Rodriguez was working in hitter’s counts way more than usual, going to three-ball counts eight times and needing 92 pitches to get through the four innings. He walked two and didn’t get much help from his defense.
An error by Jeimer Candelario led to an unearned run in the first inning and a reckless throwing error by shortstop Javier Báez was part of a three-run fourth inning.
In between, the Mariners put some good swings on him. Former Tiger Eugenio Suarez continued his assault with an RBI single in the first. He had five hits, including a home run, and four RBI in the series.
Rodriguez was socked with back-to-back home runs in the third. Rookie Julio Rodriguez jumped a first-pitch slider and hit it 408 feet into the seats in left field. Ty France followed, hitting a changeup into the Tigers’ bullpen.
The fourth inning was a mess. Rodriguez walked J.P. Crawford after a nine-pitch fight. Sam Haggerty followed with a bloop single to center. Báez flagged the ball down, spun and threw blindly and wildly into the middle of the infield. That allowed both runners to advance.
Catcher Curt Casali, a former Tigers farmhand, then cashed both runners with a double to the gap in right-center.
In one of the few positive developments of the day, rookie right-hander Garrett Hill continues to impress out of the bullpen. He was sent to the pen in an effort to restrict his innings but continue his development.
He pitched three scoreless innings, allowing a hit and two walks. It was his second straight three-inning scoreless outing.
Reliever Jose Cisnero walked in the seventh run in the ninth inning. With two outs, he gave up singles to Mitch Haniger and Suarez to load the bases. He walked Abraham Toro on a 3-2 pitch.
Offensively, there wasn’t anything going on for the Tigers, again.
Mariners starter Logan Gilbert allowed only two singles in six scoreless innings with nine strikeouts.
The eighth inning was covered by former Tiger Matthew Boyd. He threw his last pitch for the Tigers nearly a year ago (Sept. 4, 2021). This was his first big-league action after coming back from flexor tendon surgery.
Pitching for his hometown team, he got three ground-ball outs.
cmccosky@detroitnews.com
Twitter: @cmccosky