George Sipple

Detroit Free Press

SEATTLE – Justin Upton didn’t make any excuses after going 0-for-4 in Wednesday’s 3-1 loss to the Mariners and 1-for-14 in the three-game series.

“I’m just playing like (crap) right now,” Upton said. “I’m not hitting the ball well. I’m not seeing the ball well. I’m not able to slow the game now and it’s just not happening.”

Upton hit .278 (25-for-90) with five home runs and 12 RBIs in 24 games in July with a .842 OPS.

He’s batting .176 (6-for-34) with 11 strikeouts in nine games this month.

Asked what he’s seen from Upton in this series specifically, Detroit Tigers hitting coach Wally Joyner replied: “Baseball.”

“You can look it at and he’s 1-for-14, but he hit the ball hard a number of times. No luck, so it looks worse than it is. When you don’t have success than you don’t feel good. You think something’s wrong. You think something needs to change. That’s the nature of the beast. ‘Do I need to change or am I not having any luck?’ Tonight, we didn’t have much luck when we hit the ball hard.”

The Mariners made some good defensive plays to rob the Tigers of some hits.

“Some of them were surprising, some of them were lucky,” Joyner said.

Upton went 0-for-7 in the 6-5 loss in five innings on Tuesday night.

“His last two at-bats last night, he just missed one and he hit a line drive to left,” Joyner said.

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Upton grounded into a double play in his first at-bat on Wednesday. He grounded into a force out at short in the fourth. He struck out looking in the seventh inning and struck out swinging to end the game in the ninth.

“My message is we’ve played really good and we’ve swept teams and we were unlucky this series,” Joyner said. “We have a day off tomorrow. Let’s go get’em Friday. I’ll take my chances.”

It doesn’t help that the Tigers are without Nick Castellanos (fractured hand) and Cameron Maybin (Grade 2 left thumb sprain).

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Joyner said he hopes Upton doesn’t need the day off more than anyone else.

“He’s a good player,” Joyner said. “He wasn’t sitting on the corner when they gave him the contract. He’s earned it. There’s a reason for that. Remember it. Nothing’s changed. He’s just a little bit unlucky right now.”

Upton signed a six-year, $132.75-million contract with the Tigers in January to add another big bat to the lineup.

He’s batting .234 with 20 doubles, 13 home runs and 46 RBIs. He’s struck out a team-high 135 times in 108 games and has grounded into 13 double plays.

Upton hit 26 home runs and 81 RBIs in 150 games last season for the Padres. He hit 29 home runs and 102 RBIs in 154 games in 2014 for the Braves.

“I’ve seen it happen where great players have had an off year,” Joyner said. “Because the pitches that hit were caught. They expanded the strike zone a little bit more than they wanted to and it snowballed a little bit. We’ll get him back.”

Joyner said every good player is concerned when they are struggling, regardless of how much money they are making.

“He’s not OK with it and I’m glad he’s not OK with it,” Joyner said. “He’s working hard and he’ll be fine. He’s unlucky. He’s not playing like (crap).”

Contact George Sipple: gsipple@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @georgesipple. Download our Tigers Xtra app for free on Apple and Android devices!