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Orioles 9, Tigers 3: Justin Verlander continues to struggle as Detroit drops below .500 mark

And despite double-digit hits, the Tigers had just three runs to show for their efforts.

By Catherine Slonksnis
Raj Mehta-USA TODAY Sports

If you expected Justin Verlander to at least give the Detroit Tigers a decent outing, that didn't happen. Firebombed was more like it. The offense didn't provide much help, either. Obviously it didn't translate well and the Tigers lost 9-3 to the Baltimore Orioles, dropping the series and below .500 for the first time this year.

We can go into what went wrong for Verlander, why he was behind in the count, couldn't retire batters, or gave up a six-spot in the fourth. OK that's exactly what went wrong. And it didn't help that the offense couldn't put much of anything together. The bullpen also imploded, per the usual.

Sure the offense had some opportunities after 32 straight batters had been retired -- extending since Saturday night's game. They scored thee runs thanks to Anthony Gose, Yoenis Cespedes, and Jefry Marte. Jose Iglesias was one of three batters with a multi-hit game and scored all the runs. J.D. Martinez was just 1-for-5 with two strikeouts, though. Too bad there wasn't one of these lying around for the pitching.

And if you're wondering where two of those extra runs came from for the Orioles, here's pointing at you, Al Alburquerque. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to burn some weeds down behind my house. Might be a good idea for the Tigers to do the same.

ROARS:

Jose Iglesias: A four-hit day will earn you a roar when the rest of the team is stinking up the joint. He also scored three times and made some nice defensive plays. He also nearly turned some sick ones, too.

Yoenis Cespedes: Finished 2-for-4 with an RBI, though he was pulled from the game to start the eighth when he tweaked something running to first in the bottom of the seventh.

Anthony Gose: Got the first of two runs of the day. So, he prevented the Tigers from being shut out in back-to-back games. Still, it seemed out of place. Verlander seemed to agree.

HISSES:

Everything else. Offense, pitching, defense, managing, weather, injuries. Yes, there were even two injuries. Nick Castellanos got a ball to the face on a sharp ground ball and had to come out of the game. It was originally supposed to be an off-day for Nick, but he had to come in the game when Ian Kinsler got tossed. Yep, that happened, too. Also, Cespedes tweaked something and was replaced by Rajai Davis to start the eighth.

Meanwhile, here's a live look at the Tigers bullpen ... and potentially, the season if it continues this way.

STREAKS AND STATS:

  • Justin Verlander is one of four Tigers pitchers to give up seven-or-more runs in a game this season. The others? Anibal Sanchez, Shane Greene, and Alfredo Simon. If you see the trend, you win a prize. I'm not sure what prize, but you win something.
  • Iglesias' four-hit day was just the second of his career, his last being on April 8 against the Twins.
  • The Tigers dropped below the .500 mark for the first time this season. It's the first time they've been below .500 in the second half since Oct. 2, 2010.

WIN PROBABILITY GRAPH:


Source: FanGraphs

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