WASHINGTON -- If Sunday's 8-3 loss to the Texas Rangers was a "punch to the gut" then Monday's back-breaker -- a 5-4 loss to the Washington Nationals, decided by a ninth-inning walkoff home run -- represented an entirely new level of pain.
"Below the belt," manager Brad Ausmus said.
And he should know, considering he'll likely suffer the most from the team's current seven-game skid. Already Ausmus has incurred mounting scrutiny for the team's foibles and a barrage of questions about his future -- both of which are sure to continue following another demoralizing defeat. The Tigers have dropped seven straight – including back-to-back sweeps that resulted in fans clamoring for change and Ausmus admitting he finds himself "in the crosshairs" as a result of his under-performing team.
The Detroit Tigers desperately needed Anibal Sanchez to have a strong outing. No other area has been as big of an eyesore as the club’s rotation, and the 32-year-old pitcher, who entered the game with a 5.87 ERA that ranked seventh-worst among MLB starters, has been the very embodiment of just how erratic and inconsistent the staff has been. According to ESPN Stats and Info, the Tigers' starters' ERA is now 4.79, 25th among all MLB teams.
Sanchez, who entered the game with a 9-1 record and a 1.98 career ERA against the Nationals, looked sharp at first, pitching three scoreless innings before yielding a run in the bottom of the fourth on Daniel Murphy’s RBI single on a line drive to center that cut Detroit’s lead to 2-1. J.D. Martinez hit a two-run homer in the fifth to stretch the Tigers’ lead to 4-1.
Still, the team's No. 3 starter was cruising along and there was reason for hope that he was poised to make the step forward the club has been eagerly awaiting.
Sanchez, however, encountered more trouble in the sixth inning, when he faced Murphy in his next at-bat, giving up a two-out, two-run homer that allowed the Nationals to whittle the lead again to one run, a huge turning point in the game. It was a start similar to his previous outing in which Sanchez was plagued by one costly frame.
"That last start he had one bad inning and tonight he came out throwing the ball extremely well, executed his game plan very well throughout the game. Really, that one mistake to Murphy, that was about it" catcher James McCann said.
And then, what is becoming the dreaded seventh inning for the Tigers haunted them once more.
With a 4-3 lead, runners at the corners with no outs, and a tiring Sanchez on the mound, Ausmus emerged from the dugout for a meeting -- one that many assumed would end with him grabbing the ball and signaling to the bullpen. That didn’t happen.
Instead, Ausmus opted to leave Sanchez in the game to face Nats pitcher Stephen Strasburg, and the end result was not good for Detroit.
Strasburg dropped down a bunt on the first-base line, and though Sanchez hustled over in time, he failed to make the tag and ended up fumbling the ball, allowing Strasburg to reach first on an error and saddling reliever Kyle Ryan with a bases-loaded, no-out jam.
"That was my first thing [I thought], attack the ball as fast as I can and get the tag [on] Strasburg before he passed by the ball," Sanchez said.
It was an easy decision to pull Sanchez then -- Ausmus felt he was mentally fried -- but the call hasn't been so easy with Sanchez' performances so unpredictable inning by inning.
"When you have a lead, pitching is extremely valuable. He's sailing along and he's coming through the third time through the lineup, you feel like he's still in a good position to succeed, but it just didn't work out that way," Ausmus said.
A sacrifice fly was all that was needed to tie the game, and Clint Robinson ultimately sealed the victory with a walk-off home run off Mark Lowe in the bottom of the ninth.
Lowe, who gave up five runs in 2/3 innings of Sunday's loss, was dejected by another disastrous result.
"I don't think it can get any worse," Lowe said.
You can bet the decision not to pull Sanchez sooner will be debated thoroughly, as will the call to pinch-hit Victor Martinez with a base open in the eighth (Nats manager Dusty Baker intentionally walked Martinez). There was plenty to nitpick in the latter third of the game and the tendency to dissect only grows as the losses continue to pile up. Ausmus knows this. In fact, he has admitted as much the past two days.
His job security lays in the balance because of a bloated payroll, high expectations and a recent nosedive. Any missteps will be magnified. It is fair to critique his decisions, but he can't be the only one held culpable.
Sanchez’s outing alone -- at least the last two innings -- was a microcosm of all that has ailed the Tigers recently: unreliable pitching, sloppy play, poor fundamentals and critical mistakes at critical times.
"It'll change. We're not worried about it not changing," said Martinez, who hit his fourth home run of the season."Obviously, we're just stressing a bit, trying to change it, instead of going out there and having fun. We were in that winning streak right before this and it just seemed like we were having fun. And when you're having fun, everything's going your way....when you're losing and you're not performing, this game can be harsh."