Ouch

Someone needs to alert the Tigers pitching staff the second half of the season (post All-Star break version) has begun. Detroit’s once feared pitching is giving up .288/.353/.442 since the break and the starters are yielding .297/.363/.477 during that time.

Against the Angels, the Tigers might as well have been playing T-ball. Maybe they should have suggested it – things couldn’t have gone much worse. Anaheim batted .386/.467/.574 in demolishing Detroit in a 3-game weekend set.

The Tigers are 8-10 since the break. Detroit’s pitching has given up 7 or more runs 8 times during that span. Thanks to the offense, the Tigs are 3-5 in those games. But the inability of the starters to pitch deep into games has taken a toll. The last Detroit pitcher to get a win was Andrew Miller on July 18 – and that’s 13 games ago.

Kenny Rogers went back on the DL, this time with left elbow inflammation, so that won’t help the situation. With Fernando Rodney and Joel Zumaya on the DL, the pen isn’t deep enough to handle the continued excessive workload.

Detroit still is a game up on Cleveland in the loss column despite its recent woes. One would like to believe this funk can’t last, that the Tigers are too good. But the struggles, particularly since they’re on the pitching side, are baffling.