Tigers’ playoff hopes all but vanish
Marcus Thames had no idea how symbolic a fly ball could be.
When he launched a Rafael Betancourt fastball high into the bright blue sky during the eighth inning of Wednesday’s game at Jacobs Field, the Tigers were left to rue a pitch that Thames had barely missed crushing.
At the time, the bases were loaded with Tigers. Cleveland was leading, 4-2. By a tiny fraction of an inch, Thames had avoided blasting Betancourt’s pitch deep into the left-field seats for what would have been a grand slam home run and a chance to have salvaged at least one of the three big games that the Indians instead won as they swept their way closer to the American League playoffs.
“Thames just missed it,” Tigers manager Jim Leyland acknowledged afterward.
The “just missed it” tag could have applied to so many facets of the Tigers’ play during a momentous series, which the first-place, playoff-bound Indians secured with Wednesday’s 4-2 victory.
Any chance the Tigers had for putting a scare into the Indians vanished because of Detroit’s pop-gun offense, which was no match for Cleveland’s muscle.
The numbers were almost embarrassing for a Tigers team known previously for its power:
The Tigers had 31 hits in their three games against the Indians, but only six were for extra bases. Their only home run was hit by Placido Polanco, who entered the week with all of eight home runs in 2007.
Cleveland, by contrast, had 21 hits spanning three games. Eleven of those hits were for extra bases, and eight of those extra-base blasts were home runs.
Wednesday’s loss, which saw C.C. Sabathia win his 18th game of the season and Tigers left-hander Nate Robertson slip to 8-12, means the Tigers (83-70) must go 7-2 in their final nine games to hit the 90-victory mark, which would at least provide some statistical consolation to a team all but officially out of the playoff chase.
The final swing begins with a weekend home series against Kansas City, followed by a three-game, Comerica Park finale against the Twins. Detroit closes its regular season next weekend against the White Sox in Chicago.
No matter what happens in the season’s waning nine days, the Tigers will be left to lament their belly-flop at Jacobs Field.
In all three games, the Tigers had at least a two-run lead. In all three games, their offense shut down at the very point Cleveland’s caught fire.
The Tigers even managed a 2-0 lead Wednesday against Sabathia, who might well win this year’s American League Cy Young Award. In the third inning, a single by Mike Rabelo, followed by a one-out double from Ramon Santiago — the supposed light hitter was 6-for-10 with four RBIs in the Indians series — set things up for Ryan Raburn’s two-run single that once again put the Tigers on top.
But this week’s storyline was consistent. Casey Blake, whom you would think has something personal against the Tigers the way he bashes them, naturally hit a home run in the bottom of the third off Robertson to make it 2-1.
After the Indians scored three more times in the fifth, the ballgame had effectively ended, in step with Detroit’s once-upon-a-time glowing playoff hopes.
Robertson, who genuinely pleased Leyland with his five-hit effort over seven innings, said of Blake:
“Whatever he’s doing, he’s doing right.”
Blake would tell you he’s not missing anything hittable.
In the wake of their Cleveland experience, the Tigers wish they could relate.
