A's 6, Tigers 1: Anibal Sanchez's struggles continue to sink Detroit

DETROIT -- Another day, another poor outing for Anibal Sanchez. And another home run given up to boot. Coupled with a nearly non-existent offense in tow until the ninth inning and less than pleasant outings by the bullpen, the Detroit Tigers lost 6-1 to the Oakland Athletics, their sixth consecutive loss.

Sanchez got off to another rocky start, giving up a three-run triple to Billy Burns in the second inning. After a home run in the third, Sanchez had dug a 4-0 hole for the Tigers, though it likely felt more like a 15-run deficit. After that, though, Sanchez didn't so much as settle down, but he did manage to keep the A's from adding to their lead.

Despite not being able to find the strike zone for much of the night and walking four batters, Sanchez eventually got his first 1-2-3 inning of the night in the seventh to end strong. After seven complete innings and 104 pitches, Sanchez was able to at least finish strong for the first time in a while. Considering the slump he's been going through, every little bit helps.

We can talk about the offense, but it barely showed up. Two hits and a walk through eight innings and no patient at-bats to speak of aren't going to win you any games, regardless of how well the starting pitcher is doing. And with a shaky Sanchez, it's just not going to work. A small comfort, the Tigers weren't shut out thanks to hits by Jose Iglesias and Miguel Cabrera, which put Detroit on the board with Cabrera's RBI double.

ROARS:

Defense: J.D. Martinez made a great leaping snag to rob Billy Butler of what would have been an extra-base hit. Nick Castellanos also caught a screaming liner in the fourth inning to take a hit away.

Yoenis Cespedes: Cespedes was the only Tiger to get on base three times. He reached on an error by the shortstop in the second, singled to right in the fourth, and reached on a force in the seventh. He was one of three Tigers to get a hit.

Miguel Cabrera: Singled in the seventh, which accounted for just the second hit by the Tigers. Cabrera has now reached base safely in 22 consecutive games. He also drove in the Tigers' only run with a scorched RBI double to straightaway center.

Jose Iglesias: Was silent through eight innings but singled in the ninth, scoring when Cabrera drove him in

HISSES:

Anibal Sanchez: After a one-out double and back-to-back walks in the third, Sanchez served up a bases-clearing triple to right that didn't make it out of shallow right field. He then gave up a solo home run to Josh Reddick, putting the Tigers in an early 4-0 hole. He made it into the seventh inning but was shaky throughout his entire outing.

Offense: What offense? The Tigers had just two hits through eight innings, drawing one walk, reaching on an error, and a force. They got two more hits in the ninth and Ian Kinsler reached on an error, but nothing else happened.

The bullpen: Sure, the Tigers were already down by four runs, but the bullpen didn't help. Tom Gorzelanny gave up two hits and a run in the eighth inning, and Angel Nesbitt hit two batters and walked one to load the bases in the ninth. A run scored on a sacrifice fly with Alex Wilson on the mound -- he replaced Nesbitt -- but Wilson also got the next batter to fly out to center to end the ninth. Of the three, his was the least destructive.

STREAKS AND STATS:

• The home run given up by Anibal Sanchez in the fourth inning was his 13th of the season. His career-high is 20 in a single season. It's June 3.
• Entering Wednesday night's game, since his last two-hit day on May 17, Ian Kinsler is batting .115/.220/.212 with one home run and just two doubles in his last 59 plate appearances, with seven walks and 10 strikeouts.
• The Tigers now have a six-game losing streak, and have lost eight of their last 10 games. The last time that the Tigers had a losing streak of six games or more was on April 26 - May 2, 2011, when they lost seven straight. Their last five-game losing streak had been April 22 to April 27, 2012, which they matched on Tuesday.

WIN PROBABILITY GRAPH:

Source: FanGraphs