Oakland 7, Detroit 5: Hapless Tigers' skid reaches 7

Four ninth-inning runs by the Detroit Tigers this afternoon at Comerica Park turned another lopsided game into a close one, before the Oakland Athletics held on to win, 7-5.

But until that ninth inning, the Tigers didn't hit, and haven't been hitting for a while. Now they aren't pitching well, either.

If you can't score or keep the other team from scoring, well, that's how losing streaks happen. The Tigers lost their seventh game in a row, the team's longest losing streak since 2011.

BOX SCORE

"Sometimes this game offers different challenges," said Ian Kinsler, who got two late hits. "Right now we're in the middle of one. When you are playing like this, everything is under a microscope. We have to be better at flushing and getting ready for the next (moment)."

Despite the late rally, Thursday's game felt over not long after it started and, if there is a pattern here in all this losing — the Tigers have lost 10 of their last 12 — it's that the team hasn't had a chance in very many of these games.

Shane Greene gave up three runs in the second inning and another in the third, and that was it. For the rest of the afternoon, the crowd sat mostly quiet, as if it understood the inevitability of the game playing out before them.

Until the ninth, the Tigers managed a run on a couple of bloop singles and an RBI from Miguel Cabrera in the sixth.

Other than that, there were a couple of wild pitches, a couple of errors, including a throwing error by Greene that led to a run in the third. There was an intentional walk followed by a single by the lesser hitter, followed by a misplayed ball in the outfield.

"Any time you don't give the team a chance to win, it's pretty frustrating," Greene said. "I just have to set a better tempo for the team. It's tough when I'm putting them in a hole."

Kinsler faulted the offense, saying the team is making it hard for pitchers, sending out every inning and "forcing them to hold on, waiting for us to score."

Missing regular contributors hasn't helped, either.

Why the Tigers lost Thursday afternoon

Yoenis Cespedes left the game with the flu. His replacement, Daniel Fields, made his major league debut, making a fielding error after the intentional walk but also doubling in the ninth.

"I learned a lot watching the guys," Fields said.

After the game, he was sent back down to the minors, as the team made room to for Rajai Davis to come off the paternity leave list.

In the next few weeks, it's possible the Tigers will get Victor Martinez and Justin Verlander back, too.

"It will be good to get them back," manager Brad Ausmus said. "But right now, it's about the White Sox."

The Tigers open a three-game series in Chicago today. They will be looking to win for the first time in more than a week.

The A's swept the Tigers in three games, just as the Angels swept the Tigers in four. Greene lost games in both series. He has given up 15 runs in his last three starts and hasn't made it past the fifth inning in any of them.

Since dominating in his first three starts of the year, Greene (4-5) has only one win since, a 10-4 victory at St. Louis. But on that day the offense picked him up. His ERA is 5.40.

His effort against Oakland wasn't as brutal as his last outing — he allowed five home runs in less than two innings in Anaheim, Calif. — but he still left too many balls up in the zone.

Green was pulled for Blaine Hardy, who was pulled for Tom Gorzelanny, who was followed by Al Alburquerque and Joba Chamberlain. The bullpen, as it has for much of the year, offered solid relief, holding Oakland to one run in 42/3 innings.

The problem, however, hasn't been the bullpen. It's been the offense and, lately, the starting pitching.

Add all that up and you've got a team that's now one game above .500, at 28-27.

Contact Shawn Windsor: 313-222-6487 or swindsor@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @shawnwindsor.