The start of games is still an issue for Detroit Tigers left-handed starter Framber Valdez.
Laboring through a 28-pitch first inning, Valdez gave up what turned out to be an insurmountable lead in a 4-1
loss to the Tampa Bay Rays on Monday, Aug. 24. The first two Rays hitters reached base on singles and eventually came in to score on a pair of ground balls, aided by a Brett Callahan fielding error in left field.
"It is frustrating for him," Tigers manager A.J. Hinch said postgame. "It is frustrating for us. A couple of singles and then Callahan is in between and makes the error. All of a sudden, instead of first and second, where that ground ball can maybe get you some breathing room, we are under a lot of stress."
Valdez limited the damage, but the early two-run deficit was costly in the low-scoring loss. Valdez has now given up 24 runs – 20 earned – in the first innings of his starts as a Tiger, spanning 25⅔ total innings, for a 7.01 ERA before reaching the second inning. His ERA after the first inning? 3.78.
"I'm always focused at the beginning of any inning," Valdez said through Tigers interpreter Carlos Guillen. "But in this case, I have to elevate in that situation, that mindset to be even more focused. Just to feel like I am in the fifth inning or something like that. Be more aggressive against the hitter, be always attacking the strike zone from the beginning, from the get-go."
Valdez settled in for a quick second inning. He ran into trouble again in the third, but a perfect relay play on a Jonny DeLuca double – between right fielder Zach McKinstry, second baseman Hao-Yu Lee and catcher Dillon Dingler – stopped a run at the plate.
Tampa Bay kept chipping, though, to add a third run in the fourth inning. Jorge Mateo led off the inning with a double, and then came around to score on a pair of Tampa sacrifice bunts down the third-base line.
"They are very aggressive, very fast, so I did my best to have them hit ground balls as much as I could," Valdez said.
Jonathan Aranda hit a solo home run off a juicy slider from Valdez in the sixth inning, making it 4-1.
Valdez gave up four runs (three earned) on eight hits across 84 pitches in six innings. Monday's performance dropped him to 8-9 with a 4.35 ERA on the season. Not only did Valdez not record a strikeout against Tampa Bay's pesky lineup, but he could not generate a single whiff from a Rays hitter on 41 swings.
Besides Callahan's costly first-inning error, the Tigers played solid defense behind their grounder-heavy lefty. Valdez even mixed in two cutters, a style of fastball not normally in Valdez's arsenal, to try and stump the Rays' bats.
"Just to change something against them to get him out of rhythm," Valdez said of the rare cutter appearance.
The Rays had a clear advantage in control over the strike zone. Tigers hitters struck out 12 times with just one walk, while Tigers pitchers walked four hitters with just three strikeouts.
Detroit created a few issues for Rays relievers with multiple base runners in the eighth and ninth innings, but failed to deliver the big hit in a clutch spot.
"When you can create action and find ways to manufacture a few things, they were able to separate," Hinch said.
With the loss, the Tigers (61-70) have now lost six straight, and nine of 10. The Rays (78-53), meanwhile, moved to 3½ games up in the American League East and 10 games up in the race for a first-round playoff bye. The Tigers' potential path to the postseason keeps slimming with each loss. With 31 games to play, they're seven games back of the Chicago White Sox in the AL Central, and 4½ back of the Cleveland Guardians for the third and final AL wild-card spot – with five teams between Detroit and Cleveland.
The ongoing offensive slump has been a major culprit. Detroit has scored 3.6 runs per game over the 10-game downswing. But those issues are exacerbated when working out of immediate deficits in the first inning.
"We are going out and giving 100%," rookie Kevin McGonigle said. "I have all the trust in the guys in this clubhouse. Still very, very confident in us."
ContactJared Ramsey at jramsey@freepress.com.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: First-inning woes for Framber Valdez leave Tigers in brutal hole again
