The Detroit Tigers lost again.
Left-hander Framber Valdez surrendered four runs across five innings, sinking his ERA to 4.58 through 10 starts, and the offense scored two runs or fewer for the third game in a row, dropping the Tigers’ production to three runs per game through their past 13.
More notably, the Tigers were blown out in an 8-2 loss to the Cleveland Guardians on Monday, May 18, in the opener of a four-game series at Comerica Park.
The Tigers have lost 11 of 13 games.
Just like that, the last-place Tigers (20-28, tied with the Kansas City Royals) trail the first-place Guardians (27-22) by 6½ games in the American League Central standings.
The rivals meet again Tuesday (6:40 p.m., Detroit SportsNet) in a showdown between right-hander Keider Montero for the Tigers and left-hander Parker Messick for the Guardians.
In Monday’s game, the Tigers scored first, with one run in the first inning.
They didn’t score again until the eighth inning.
Right-hander Slade Cecconi kept the Tigers down in a 96-pitch performance, allowing two runs on five hits and two walks with four strikeouts across 7⅓ innings. He controlled contact along the way, limiting the Tigers to an average exit velocity of 84.5 mph on 20 balls in play.
Cecconi entered with a 5.60 ERA in nine starts.
He now owns a 5.16 ERA after facing the Tigers in his 10th start.
In the first inning, Kevin McGonigle hit an infield single and scored on an RBI double from Riley Greene, who pulled Cecconi’s middle-up fastball with two outs to the wall in right-center field – nearly a home run.
That swing put the Tigers ahead, 1-0.
From there, the Guardians scored the next seven runs. Four were charged to Valdez, and three were charged to left-handed reliever Brant Hurter.
It began in the third inning.
A leadoff triple from Brayan Rocchio sparked the Guardians, followed by a crucial one-out walk (the second of four from Valdez) to José Ramírez to put runners on the corners.
The Guardians grabbed a 2-1 lead when Chase DeLauter grounded into a force out, and Rhys Hoskins plated another run by ripping a double.
The double from Hoskins came off Valdez’s middle-down sinker at the bottom rail of the strike zone. He destroyed the pitch with a game-high 108.3 mph exit velocity, driving the ball into the left-center gap and to the wall.
The Guardians extended their lead to 4-1 with two runs in the fifth inning, then made it 7-1 with three runs in the sixth inning.
A leadoff walk to Rocchio haunted Valdez in the fifth, as the Guardians loaded the bases on back-to-back singles from Angel Martínez and Ramírez, both on first-pitch swings. After that, DeLauter grounded into another force out for a 3-1 lead and Hoskins delivered a sacrifice fly for a 4-1 lead.
Valdez continues to look like a bad signing for the Tigers.
The 32-year-old – whom the Tigers guaranteed three years and $115 million in free agency – allowed four runs on five hits and four walks with three strikeouts across five innings, throwing 52 of 89 pitches for strikes.
It was his second start in return from a suspension for intentionally hitting a batter.
In the sixth, Hurter struggled in the same way as Valdez with too many walks. A leadoff single and two walks had the Guardians with the bases loaded and one out.
The Tigers called on right-handed reliever Connor Seabold to clean up Hurter’s mess.
He couldn’t get it done.
An RBI single from Martínez and a two-RBI double from Ramírez pushed the Guardians’ lead to 7-1.
The Tigers and Guardians traded runs on solo home runs in the bottom of the eighth and top of the ninth innings.
In the eighth, the Tigers trimmed their deficit to 7-2 with Matt Vierling’s home run to left off Cecconi; in the ninth, the Guardians reclaimed their six-run advantage with an 8-2 lead on Ramírez’s home run off left-handed reliever Enmanuel De Jesus.
While the Tigers’ offense has struggled over the past 12 games, the pitching staff hasn’t been much better, surrendering 5.3 runs per game during that stretch.
The AL Central champion has averaged 90 wins over the past four seasons.
With a 20-28 record, the Tigers need to finish with a 70-44 record in their final 114 games to reach 90 wins.
Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him @EvanPetzold.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Framber Valdez struggles for Tigers in blowout loss to rival Guardians
Reporting by Evan Petzold, Detroit Free Press / Detroit Free Press
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