CHICAGO -- The difference between an awful Detroit Tigers offense and a great Detroit Tigers offense is like the difference between night and day.

Literally. At night, the offense has been terrible. During the day, it's been impressive.

The Tigers continued a bizarre trend of not being able to muster much offense during night games Tuesday night when they suffered a 5-2 loss to the Chicago White Sox.

The Tigers are averaging three times as many runs in day games (6.3) as they are in night games (2.1). They have scored two or fewer runs 10 times in 12 night games thus far this season.

On Tuesday night, the Tigers scratched out a run in the first inning. They got a solo home run by Alex Avila that was in and out of the mitt of Melky Cabrera before it went over the fence in the second inning.

That was it. Miguel Cabrera went 0 for 4 and grounded into a double play. Victor Martinez flied out twice, grounded out twice and was checked on by manager Brad Ausmus and head athletic trainer Kevin Rand after tweaking his knee while dodging an inside pitch. He remained in the game.

"That was the first time that's happened in a while where he jumps out of the way and it grabs him," Ausmus said. "But as we were talking to him, he said it was already feeling better."

J.D. Martinez continued in his funk. He went 0 for 4 with three strikeouts and is now 2 for 25 with 16 strikeouts in his past six games. Yoenis Cespedes went 0 for 3 and reached base on a walk and an error.

Victor Martinez is hitting .203 and has been robbed of his power. J.D. Martinez is hitting .231 and looks absolutely lost. But don't expect Ausmus to shake up the lineup anytime soon.

"Really, they're going to have to hit their way out of it," Ausmus said. "It's just how it happens. And I don't think it's a bad thing that we're going to see a couple lefties in a row for Vic."

And for J.D. Martinez?

"He's just chasing pitches," Ausmus said. "I personally think he's thinking a little bit too much."

All in all, the Nos. 3-6 hitters went 0 for 15 with five strikeouts and one walk in the team's loss to the White Sox. Disturbing? Maybe not for one night. But look at some day-night splits for the Tigers through 27 games this season.

The Tigers are second in the majors in batting average (.316) and first in OPS (.885) during day games. They are 28th in batting average (.220) and 29th in OPS (.591) at night.

Think about that for a moment. With one-sixth of the season complete, the Tigers are arguably the best offensive team in the majors when the sun is shining and one of the worst two or three when the lights are on. They are hitting almost 100 points higher with an OPS almost 300 points higher during the day than at night.

Which individual players have the biggest day-night splits?

The Nos. 2-3-4 hitters:

Ian Kinsler

Day: .344 (21 for 61), 5 doubles, 3 triples, 9 RBIs, .856 OPS

Night: .222 (10 for 45), 10 singles, 0 extra-base hits, 3 RBIs, .522 OPS

Miguel Cabrera

Day: .500 (28 for 56), 6 doubles, 6 home runs, 19 RBIs, 1.417 OPS

Night: .146 (6 for 41), 6 singles, 0 extra-base hits, 0 RBIs, .417 OPS

Victor Martinez

Day: .283 (13 for 46), 12 singles, 1 double, 9 RBIs, .679 OPS

Night: .091 (3 for 33), 3 singles, 0 extra-base hits, 0 RBIs, .322 OPS

Study those numbers hard. Kinsler, Cabrera and Martinez have combined for zero extra-base hits in 119 at-bats during night games. Cabrera and Martinez have not driven in a single run in 78 combined at-bats at night.

Cabrera is absolutely destroying pitchers in day games. Kinsler is doing extremely well during the daytime. Victor Martinez isn't himself day or night batting right-handed or left-handed right now. But his numbers are serviceable during the day and his offense almost non-existent at night.

The numbers are slightly less nuts but still bizarre in the fifth and sixth spots. J.D. Martinez is hitting for a better average at night (.244) than during the day (.222), but all six of his home runs have come in day games. Yoenis Cespedes is hitting .262 with a .741 OPS at night and .328 with a .939 OPS during the day.

The day-night difference middle of the order explains why the Tigers are 12-3 in day games and 5-7 at night. In fact, based on the run totals, it's amazing that the Tigers have won five night games this season. Here are the run totals for the Tigers in their 12 night games this year: 2, 1, 2, 2, 4, 1, 5, 2, 1, 1, 2, 2.

Small sample sizes? Maybe a bit. Just a weird trend? Possibly. Could weather play a factor? Maybe. But the opposition has been playing in the same games and they are scoring more runs in night games than during the day.

No matter what the issue, April is over. With warmer weather ahead, there will be fewer day games than there have been thus far. If the Tigers offense is going to warm up with the weather, Tigers hitters are going to have to heat up at night.

That fact is crystal clear no matter how you crunch the numbers.

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