"THESE are the times that try men's souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands by it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly: it is dearness only that gives every thing its value."
Whoops. I may have seen too many commercials for the US Men's National Team. (Don't forget to come back Friday morning for your World Cup open thread!)
But the point still stands: This hasn't been a very fun time to be a Tigers fan, short of 26 consecutive outs a week ago Wednesday.
After going seven-games-above-.500 and tying Minnesota for first place on May 20, Detroit has gone 6-12. After being shut out 3-0 today, the Tigers have lost back-to-back series to division foes Kansas City and Chicago. Heck, they've lost five of their last six series. And during that time Detroit scored three or fewer runs nine times.
I'm not sure the point of that last paragraph, but I was looking at the depth of the Tigers' recent pit and felt like I needed someone to suffer it with me.
First the good news: Max Scherzer pitched a pretty good game for the Tigers. He pitched into the eighth inning -- a debatable decision -- and allowed three runs, two by the long ball. But for a large portion of the game, he mowed down White Sox hitters.
Now the bad news: One run was all Chicago needed, as the Mighty Tigers were shut out. And by mighty I mean they mighty score once in awhile but sure haven't seemed to lately.
Now more bad news: Magglio Ordonez was again scratched with a sore oblique. He was said to be available but he did not pinch hit in the eighth inning with bases loaded. So I'm guessing he was available only if ebola broke out in the dugout during the game. But maybe not: He'll see the team doctor back in Detroit, MLB.com's Jason Beck says.
So it's not pretty.
Speaking of not pretty: Austin Jackson went 2-for-26 during this road trip, finishing with a .077 average. Yikes. His OBP fell from .387 to .358 and his average from .341 to .313 during that time.
Anyway, Pittsburgh is coming to town as Interleague re-opens. So if Detroit would like to redeem itself this weekend presents an excellent opportunity to try.