Yankees 5, Tigers 2: Lack of timely offense, bullpen blunders hand Detroit 3rd loss

DETROIT -- Between the rain, cold, harsh wind, and lack of scoring for the Detroit Tigers, there wasn't much to cheer for until the end. Despite a start in which Kyle Lobstein went six innings and gave up just one run, the Tigers lost 5-2 to the New York Yankees as a result of a lack of offense, and a bullpen that completely collapsed in the seventh inning.

It was not a strong start by any means for Lobstein. Four walks and only three strikeouts isn't confidence inspiring, but other than the RBI double he gave up in the first, Lobstein kept the Yankees off the board. On an otherwise brutal game in which the bullpen of old reappeared, the left-handed spot starter was the one pitching bright spot.

As well as the bullpen has been doing of late, it struggled in the seventh. Ian Krol, brought in to start the inning, gave up two home runs, to right- and left-handed batters, respectively. He recorded just one out before being replaced by Tom Gorzelanny, who recorded an out, walked a batter and gave up a run.

Al Alburquerque, brought in to replace Gorzelanny with two outs, faced two batters before being pulled after issuing two walks and an abnormally low velocity. It wasn't until Tigers manager Brad Ausmus called in Blaine Hardy that the inning ended on a forceout at second. Hardy started the ninth and allowed a leadoff walk that came around to score with two outs on an error by Nick Castellanos. It was the first of the season for the third baseman.

The offense, well, it discovered new ways to ruin chances at scoring by grounding into four double plays. Of the first, second, fourth, and sixth innings in which the Tigers grounded into double plays, three began as leadoff singles, and twice they ended an inning.

The only Tigers to finish with multiple hits were Anthony Gose, J.D. Martinez, and Alex Avila. Martinez, Avila, and Yoenis Cespedes all recorded doubles, the only three extra-base hits of the night for Detroit. Martinez came around to score on Cespedes' sacrifice flyout in the seventh, saving the Tigers from being shut out. However, Avila was stranded at second when the next batters were sent down via two strikeouts and a first-pitch popout to first.

The Tigers did make it exciting in the ninth inning, however, when the Yankees couldn't keep from putting runners on-base. Two hits off Chris Martin and two walks issued by Andrew Miller helped the Tigers to score their second run, when Rajai Davis walked with bases loaded -- but Jose Iglesias struck out on a foul-tip to end the threat.

ROARS:

Kyle Lobstein: After giving up the RBI double in the first inning, Lobstein allowed just two more hits. He gave up four walks and struck out three in six innings of work, allowing just the one run despite several baserunners. A decent day for a guy who was handed a tough loss.

J.D. Martinez: J.D. Martinez hit a one-out double in the seventh and later scored the one run for the Tigers on Cespedes' sacrifice fly, preventing a shutout loss. He also hit singles in the second and ninth innings, finishing 3-for-4 for the night with a strikeout.

Alex Avila: Avila had two solid knocks, a single up the middle in the third, and a leadoff double in the eighth. He finished 2-for-3 for the night.

Anthony Gose: Gose was one of just three Tigers batters to finish with multiple hits. He got two leadoff hits, opening scoring opportunities for the offense -- though they did not come through -- and finished 2-for-4 for the night with a strikeout.

HISSES:

Double plays: Whenever the Tigers threatened to take a lead, the opportunity disappeared in the form of a double play. In all, the team had six hits, but it grounded into four double plays. Twice the Tigers had runners in scoring position and the team failed to score, squandering several opportunities.

Ian Krol: Two hits, both home runs, in one-third of an inning in the seventh. Enough said.

Tigers bullpen: Sooner or later it was going to have a meltdown. In the seventh inning alone, the Tigers had four relief pitchers make an appearance before recording three outs. They allowed three runs on three hits in that time, failing to strike out a batter. Al Alburquerque faced just two batters and walked both, before being pulled. Hardy, brought in for the final out in the seventh, pitched 2 1/3 innings and gave up a run on two hits, walking two and striking out two.

STREAKS AND STATS:

• Nick Castellanos' opposite field leadoff single to start the bottom of the third inning gave him a nine-game hitting streak. The streak established a new career high, which was previously set at eight games on Aug. 30-Sept. 6, 2014. He is batting .379 with three doubles, two walks, and two RBI in that time.
• J.D. Martinez finished with a three-hit day -- including his second double -- for his second of the season, and his third multi-hit game of 2015. Over the last 10 games, Martinez is hitting .308/.342/.564 with three home runs and a double.
• The Tigers turned their 15th double play of the season in the sixth inning. The double play puts them in a two-way tie for the MLB lead for double plays turned, along with the San Francisco Giants.
• The Tigers also grounded into four double plays Tuesday night, their 17th of the season, which is a tie for the MLB lead.
• Alex Avila snapped an 0-for-15 streak when he singled up the middle in the third. He later hit an opposite field double in the eighth, giving him just his second multi-hit game of the season.
• Anthony Gose recorded two hits, giving the center fielder his fifth multi-hit game of the season, which set a new career-high.
• Nick Castellanos was charged with his first error of the season in the ninth inning. It is just the third non-pitcher fielding error by the Tigers this year, and coming into Tuesday night's game he and Jose Iglesias led the team with three defensive runs saved each.
• Victor Martinez struck out for the seventh time this year in just his 42nd plate appearance, a mark he didn't reach until May 12 in 2014 -- or 142 plate appearances.

WIN PROBABILITY GRAPH:

Source: FanGraphs