George Sipple

Detroit Free Press



The bullpen blew a 2-0 lead as the Rangers scored seven runs in the eighth inning. The Tigers lost their sixth-straight game and it doesn’t get easier as they visit the Nationals for a three-game series starting tonight, followed by a four-game series at Baltimore.Detroit Tigers manager Brad Ausmus acknowledged he’s in the “cross hairs” after an 8-3 loss to the Rangers on Sunday afternoon.

Justin Verlander allowed three hits over seven scoreless innings for his best start of the season. He walked two and struck out a season-high nine.

“He had done his job and we just couldn’t finish,” Ausmus said. “It just seems like every day it’s something, it’s one part of our game that’s not clicking and costs us the game.

“Today was the bullpen. Sometimes it’s been the hitting. Sometimes it’s been the starting pitching.”

The Tigers went with lefty Justin Wilson to start the eighth with two lefties coming up, Rougned Odor and Nomar Mazara. Wilson allowed back-to-back singles.

Ausmus then brought in righty Mark Lowe to face Adrian Beltre, who hit an RBI single. A sacrifice fly with one out brought home the tying run. With the bases loaded, ex-Tiger Bobby Wilson hit a grand slam and Delino DeShields followed with a solo home run.

“Willie’s been outstanding up until the last few outings and he will be outstanding,” Ausmus said of Wilson. “He’s just going through a rough patch.

“You certainly feel good about your odds with Justin Wilson against the lefties, and if one of those lefties gets on you have Mark Lowe against a righty. But it just didn’t seem to work.”

Ausmus said the ball got up on Lowe.

“The one that Wilson hit out, he kind of reached out,” Ausmus said. “The pitch to Beltre was a little up. He hit that ball to centerfield.”

Ausmus said the team needs to stay positive.

“We haven’t liked what happened the last week, but we can’t do anything about it now,” Ausmus said. “Part of our record. We’ll move on.”

Ausmus said very few teams go through a season without losing spurts.

Catcher James McCann agreed, saying this the current Tigers’ skid is “amplified” because it’s early in the season.

Victor Martinez said of Ausmus: “He’s been good. He’s not the one who go out there and play. It’s our fault. You know, it’s easy to blame a manager.

Martinez said the players “have to go out there and step up and play better baseball.”

He said the players have a lot of expectations.

“We want to go out there and play good baseball,” Martinez said. “I understand people spend a lot of money to come here and watch a baseball game.

“We need to keep showing up with more energy. Keep playing, man. Keep playing and see what happens. I can’t say anything else. What can I say that can turn this thing around? I wish I can turn this thing around tomorrow. We gotta keep playing hard and keep the head up and see what happens.”

Ausmus said he understands why there’s heat on the manager.

“I understand that when you have a payroll like ours, the manager’s the guy that’s in the cross hairs,” Ausmus said. “That’s fine. I knew when I took this job that I probably was gonna end up getting fired before I walked away from it. Not this job in particular, but just managing in general. How many managers walk away from a job?”

Ausmus said it won’t change how he prepares the team.

“I’m not going to make decisions based on whether I’m going to get fired or not,” he said. “Played baseball a long time, so I’m very comfortable about that.”

Ausmus said management hasn’t mentioned either way how much he may be in the cross hairs.

“And I certainly wouldn’t ask them,” Ausmus said. “I work for them.”

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

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