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 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.
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.
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.
But, 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.
Manager AJ 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.
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.
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.
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
The Tigers got just one hit off McLean after the fourth inning. That was a leadoff single by Wenceel Perez in the fifth. And McLean picked him off first base. Perez was called safe initially, but after a very short video review, the call was overturned.
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.
Chris.McCosky@detroitnews.com
@cmccosky
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Tigers swept by Mets as road woes continue
Reporting by Chris McCosky, The Detroit News / The Detroit News
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