MINNEAPOLIS – It was like watching water circle the drain.
Everything in a spiral. Flowing toward a narrow opening. Gravity tugging it all down. The result all but inevitable.
The Detroit Tigers played sloppy defense against the Minnesota Twins on Monday, Aug. 31. They didn’t generate much offense. Jackson Jobe gave up four earned runs, including a pair of homers, en route to five overall. The bullpen gave up four more until Zach McKinstry was brought in to end the misery, though he gave up two more. And the result was all but inevitable – gurgle, gurgle, gurgle – as the Minnesota Twins spanked the Tigers, 11-1, at Target Field.
Right down the drain.
Which is the fitting theme for what the Tigers have experienced over more than two weeks.
The Tigers
(63-74) have now lost 13 of 16 games, dating to August 14.
What has been the big problem? The offense has disappeared.
Consider this: The Tigers began August with a fine 8-3 record and had a plus-40 run differential in just that month.
But in their past 16 games? They have won just three times while being outscored by 35 runs.
Monday's loss dropped the Tigers to six games back in the American League wild-card chase, with the Cleveland Guardians idle, and 9½ back in the AL Central with 25 games to play.
At the plate: Full-blown youth movement has arrived
The Tigers are in a weird position. They are still talking about fighting to make the playoffs, even if the odds are against them (and get decidedly worse every day). But they are also in the midst of a youth movement, stacking the roster with rookies. On Monday, they brought up shortstop John Peck, a 2023 draft pick who made his MLB debut in the eighth inning and is expected to start on Tuesday.
“We've watched young players come up and contribute, and so the message doesn't really change – the expectation doesn't change,” Tigers manager A.J. Hinch said before the game. “We are where we are, and we know we have to be really, really good to make this a memorable September.”
Well, the final day of August was anything but memorable.
Because they couldn’t get anything going against Twins starter Taj Bradley, who was simply brilliant. He threw seven dominant innings, allowing just one run while recording nine strikeouts.
Bradley was coming off an 11-strikeout performance against the Athletics on Aug. 25, including the first immaculate inning in Twins history. He wasn’t immaculate against the Tigers, but he was a dominant force.
Bradley allowed only one hit through the first four innings – a Hao-Yu Lee single to right. Then again, this looked awfully familiar. Bradley dominated the Tigers on April 7 in a 6⅓-inning performance, allowing just one run and striking out 10.
So, this wasn’t surprising.
The one bright spot for the Tigers?
Lee crushed a homer to center that had an exit velocity of 109.6 mph and traveled 439 feet.
On the mound: Jackson Jobe gets crushed
The Twins came into this game with a certain style.
“This is a team across the way that's pretty aggressive,” Hinch said before the game. “You rarely get to four-pitch at-bats. These guys want to swing the bat.”
And that’s what they did against Jobe.
Luke Keaschall doubled on Jobe's second pitch Monday. After he moved to third on a fielder’s choice, former Tiger Kody Clemens hit a sacrifice fly to give the Twins a 1-0 lead.
Clemens caused more damage in the fourth inning when he crushed a hanging curve that was actually out of the strike zone.
Jobe was in deep trouble in the fourth after a walk, hit and error. But he got out of it with a pair of harmless popups.
Keaschall was a pain in the fifth inning as well. After he got on by a Lee error, Keaschall stole second base – off Jobe. Keaschall seemed to mess with Jobe, taking a massive lead off second; it seemed to mess up the young righty as Jobe walked Clemens to create another tenuous moment. Then Twins catcher Ryan Jeffers hit a three-run homer, his 11th of the season.
Next up: Men of Troy
Troy Melton (7-3, 1.86) will take the mound for the Tigers when they face the Twins in the second game of this three-game series on Tuesday (7:40 p.m., Detroit SportsNet). Lefty Connor Prielipp (3-7, 5.55) will start for Minnesota.
Contact Jeff Seidel: jseidel@freepress.com. Follow him on X @seideljeff
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Tigers crushed again in loss as Twins put on power show
