When you can send out your best player, Pablo Lopez, and he can give up seven runs in four innings to the Boston Red Sox on his way to a doubleheader sweep, fork over them. And when Bailey Ober, your other best starter, can four-spot the 99-loss Marlins at lightning speed in the second inning … I mean, what does that even mean?
The Tigers swept the Twins on Sunday and then sent excellent lefthander Tarik Skubal against the Tampa Bay Rays in Detroit on Tuesday afternoon. He allowed no runs and two hits in seven innings, leading the Tigers to a 2-1 win.
The Kansas City Royals also ended a seven-game losing streak. These two AL Central upstarts are now two games ahead of the Twins with five games to play.
Much of the attention on what is now an 11-23 mark has been given to the pay cuts that caused the team to lose solid starter Sonny Gray — and no reasonable effort has been made to replace him.
Additionally, there is a lot of outrage over the deal to reportedly only bring in reliever Trevor Richards from Toronto at the trading deadline. He lasted 27 days and was involved in a wild pitching stint.
Yet, despite all the complaints about the bullpen and starting staff, which were highlighted even more after Joe Ryan's injury, this comment was made to manager Rocco Baldelli in a pre-game meeting with the media: