New York — This game tests your resolve every day. But what the Tigers are going through right now feels more like an acid test.
The Tigers were swept out of Queens on Thursday, losing the finale against the New York Mets, the last place team in the National League East, 9-4 at Citi Field. They have lost eight of their last nine and have an MLB-worst 7-19 record on the road.
BOX SCORE: Mets 9, Tigers 4
“I know there’s this emotional roller coaster that we’re on,” said manager AJ Hinch, who was ejected in the top of what ended up being a pivotal fourth inning. “And there can be a lot of built-up frustration, and there should be. We obviously have missed out on some opportunities, even having a lead in these three games.
“But we are going to keep playing.”
Anything that can go wrong continues to go wrong.
The fourth inning was a perfect illustration.
The Tigers were ahead, 3-1. Rookie Gage Workman delivered a two-out, three-run homer off Mets’ right-hander Nolan McLean in the first inning. And Workman led off the fourth with a double.
Zach McKinstry followed with a bloop single to left and it looked like the Tigers were going to extend the lead. Except Workman got a bad read on McKinstry’s ball, held up and then broke late for third base.
“Kind of a tweener ball,” Workman said. “I thought maybe with a slide he had a chance to grab that one. So I probably didn’t get off as far as I should have.”
Left fielder MJ Melendez threw to third and umpire Junior Valentine called Workman out. The Tigers’ challenged the call and replays seemed to show clearly that Workman’s hand got to the bag before the tag was applied on his shoulder or back.
“From the replay, I definitely thought I was safe,” Workman said. “But I don’t know. They might’ve had an angle we didn’t see.”
After a long review from the video room, crew chief and home-plate umpire Jordan Baker announced that the call stands, which means the video room didn’t find sufficient evidence to overturn the call. Which ended up being the final straw for Hinch.
“They showed it on the board, which I think is the biggest board in baseball,” Hinch said. “If they’re going to do that, I’m going to defend my team.”
Hinch voiced his displeasure from the dugout and was immediately ejected. He raced out, as angry and animated as he’s been in recent memory and said his peace to Baker.
“He threw me out from the dugout,” Hinch said. “I didn’t say anything I thought was worthy of it. And then I’ve got to come out of the dugout. I was very frustrated with it. Just the whole thing, from the play being shown from multiple angles on the field, the fans, players, coaches, me we all watched it. But they didn’t see it in New York (video room) so the call stands.
“You guys saw the rest.”
On the next pitch, Spencer Torkelson banged into an inning-ending double-play and in the bottom of the fourth the Mets tied the game on a back-breaking two-out, two-run home run by Brett Baty.
Script flipped.
The homer followed a two-out walk from starter Keider Montero. It was a two-out walk that led to the tying run being scored in the seventh inning Wednesday.
“I got behind and ended up walking him,” Montero said through interpreter Carlos Guillen. “I was frustrated and upset with myself. With two outs there, I have to get that batter out.”
Montero got two outs in the fifth inning, but with Carson Benge at second after he singled and stole second, acting manager George Lombard summoned lefty Tyler Holton with the ever-dangerous lefty Juan Soto coming up.
But anything that can go wrong. The strategy was sound, the execution not so much. Soto singled Benge home and then right-handed hitting Mark Vientos followed with a two-run homer.
“We’re getting beat up on a little bit right now,” Hinch said. “We’re wearing it and it is no fun. We’ve had some really rough series, we haven’t really clicked on all cylinders, we’re not healthy and we have another game tomorrow. The schedule is relentless when you are down. But you have to respond and keep playing.”
The Mets ended up scoring eight unanswered runs before Dillon Dingler swatted his eighth home run off reliever Tobias Myers in the eighth.
Soto and Marcus Semien also homered, part of a five-homer barrage by the Mets. Rookie A.J. Ewing hit the first one, his first big-league homer, off Montero in the third inning.
They say it’s darkest before dawn. The Tigers (19-25) are rooting for that. They start a seven-game homestand Friday night against the Toronto Blue Jays.
“It’s not about getting over anything,” Hinch said. “It’s about getting to the ballpark tomorrow with a chance to win a game. You do your best not to drag this one into the next series. I have to talk about it every day. I want the players to just show up and play and continue to try to get better. We’ve got a lot of work to do to be the team we expect to be.”
Chris.McCosky@detroitnews.com
@cmccosky
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Tigers swept by Mets as road woes, ’emotional roller coaster’ continue
Reporting by Chris McCosky, The Detroit News / The Detroit News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
