Anthony Fenech

Detroit Free Press

BALTIMORE – A week ago, Detroit Tigers manager Brad Ausmus spoke about being in the cross hairs.

The Tigers had just taken a “punch to the gut,” getting swept at home by the Texas Rangers after Bobby Wilson, the backup catcher traded away five days earlier, hit a grand slam to beat the Tigers for their sixth straight loss.

And since then the Tigers are 2-5, which is only making his job status less secure. Even after Sunday’s 6-5 win over the Baltimore Orioles, the Tigers have lost 11 of their last 13 games. They have won one or no games in each of their past four series.

After sticking with Ausmus after last season’s last-place division finish, you have to wonder how long second-year general manager Al Avila would stay with Ausmus, who is in the last year of his contract and whose team is 16-21, 7 1/2 games back in the American League Central.

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The Tigers’ performance over the past week has been a major disappointment to say the least. They appear to be taking the field down a run or two, waiting patiently for something, anything, to go their way, and on the rare occasion it does, the bullpen comes in and nothing goes its way. The Tigers simply aren’t playing inspired baseball.

The Tigers are saying the cliché things, that this is one of those baseball slumps, or that the ball isn’t falling their way, that they can’t explain things or it’s just one of those things. But something is wrong with the brew inside the $200-million clubhouse that owner Mike Ilitch finances and Avila assembles.

Asked earlier in the week what the vibe is in there, one player said, “You feel it.”

And it feels like a losing team, like whatever swagger the Tigers had built up over their four straight Central Division championship seasons in 2011-14 has been swept away, a distant memory.

On paper, this team is good. The Tigers have immense baseball talent, a lot of veteran leadership, a few up-and-coming youngsters. But games aren’t won on paper, and on the field, they have lacked a fire in their play as of late, at a time when they surely know their manager is feeling the heat.

“Of course you hear stuff,” catcher James McCann said after Saturday’s 9-3 loss to the Orioles.

He added: “The manager’s not the one there that plays. It’s the players. The manager’s not the one out there throwing balls over the plate, not the one fielding, and he’s not the one hitting. There’s only so much blame you can throw in that direction.

“I wouldn’t put any blame on the coaching staff. I would say you gotta put it back on the players.”

Rightfielder J.D. Martinez also backed Ausmus, saying it was not fair to question his manager’s job security.

“I think it’s more on us than anyone else,” Martinez said. “We’re the ones out there playing.

“We’re the ones not hitting. We’re the ones not scoring runs, not getting outs. He can come in here and try to hoo-rah us all he can, but at the end of the day, we’ve got to find it within ourselves to get the job done.”

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But these players, of course they hear stuff. They see their leadership being questioned on national television and read about Ausmus’ job status, and they have not responded in the weeks since, making a managerial change most likely the only direction Avila can go.

And Avila deserves a lion’s share of the blame: Thus far, most of his off-season additions have been flops. Outfielder Justin Upton is struggling at the plate, hitting just .216. Starting pitcher Mike Pelfrey (0-4, 5.80 ERA) and reliever Mark Lowe (8.76 ERA) cannot get outs consistently. And Francisco Rodriguez cannot be counted on to be a lock-down closer any longer.

Perhaps with time — there are still 125 games left in the regular season — these newcomers will prove to be positives in the long haul, but Ausmus might not have that much time. He’s without a contract next year and with exorbitant expectations. And because of those early-season flops came the ripple effect of losses that won’t help appease a fan base with its sights set on nothing less than a World Series title.

If Ausmus’ fate is to be sealed in the coming days, a decision likely already has been made — unless Sunday’s big win bought him more time.

Avoiding a third sweep in four series with a come-from-behind win over the Orioles on Sunday afternoon was nice. It likely made for a nice flight back to Detroit, where the Tigers will open a nine-game home stand against teams they should beat.

“Oh, yeah,” Martinez said. “Obviously, you hate to think that you’re putting your manager’s job on the line if you don’t’ go out there and win a game because it’s really not his fault. It’s just a big win all the way around.”

But it doesn’t change the reality that nearing the 40-game mark — the point in which teams can start being judged according to Hall of Fame manager Sparky Anderson — the Tigers are an underachieving club, and that, rightly or wrongly, it starts with the field general, Ausmus, who is .500 (180-180) in two-plus seasons.

“It’s a performance-based industry,” is one of his go-to sayings.

And the Tigers haven’t been performing consistently, even if Sunday’s win did take some pressure off Ausmus.

Contact Anthony Fenech: afenech@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter@anthonyfenech.

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Caption this: Paws and Roary cartoon