HOUSTON — They wore pink Sunday to celebrate Mother’s Day around baseball. But it had to feel like Groundhog’s Day to the Tigers.
Wake up, go to the ballpark, play game, lose game.
It’s five in a row now, 12 of the last 14. There seems no end in sight.
Back-up shortstop Aledmys Diaz hit a two-out grand slam home run off reliever Drew Hutchison in the third inning and the Astros swept the Tigers out of Houston with a 5-0 win at Minute Maid Park.
The Tigers will drag the second-worst record in baseball (8-19) into an eight-game, seven-day homestand starting Monday at Comerica Park. As manager AJ Hinch has said repeatedly, keep looking through the windshield, not the rearview mirror.
“Bringing yesterday’s drama into today doesn’t help today,” Hinch said before the game. “We are where we are. We have a steep hill to climb. But you’ve got to take the first step. We’re going to continue to be positive with these guys.
“This game is built on so much failure, even when you are doing well.”
The Tigers’ bats have been stuck in failure-mode since scoring 13 runs in the first game of a doubleheader on April 23. They’ve averaged two runs in the 14 games since. Coming into play Sunday, they ranked among the bottom three in baseball in runs (29th), home runs (30th), slugging percentage (30th), OPS (27th) and WAR (28th).
“These are our guys and we’re going to try to push them through this,” Hinch said. “Adding pressures or angst or anger or frustration from the leadership in the dugout will not help.”
While the Tigers used all relievers Sunday, the Astros piggybacked starters Jake Odorizzi and Cristian Javier. The Tigers got one hit in five innings off Odorizzi. Javier held them hitless for three innings. Each pitcher struck out five.
Hector Neris pitched a perfect ninth.
Detroit scored six runs total in the four games here. That leaves a slim margin of error for any pitching staff, let alone in a bullpen game.
Wily Peralta started and pitched two scoreless innings, despite walking three hitters in a 27-pitch first. Hutchison took over in the third and loaded the bases with a single and a pair of walks. He struck out Kyle Tucker for the second out, but he left a 92-mph fastball up and over the plate to Diaz.
The ball landed in the first row of the boxes, in the shortest part of the ballpark. A grand slam home run at Minute Maid would have been an out in 28 other parks. But there are no asterisks.
Alex Bregman homered off Joe Jimenez in the fifth.
“Perspective in this game gets lost when you’re in the rut we’re in right now,” Hinch said. “But the belief that (tomorrow) can be a better day will not go away.”
