A.J. Hinch was able to muster up a joke amid his team's offensive swoon before the Tigers' doubleheader Tuesday against the Athletics. Asked how he got himself out of hitting slumps in his playing days, Hinch cracked, "I never did."
"Look at the back of my baseball card. Everybody was complaining about the shadows yesterday and I'm like, 'Every at-bat I ever took looked like I was taking it in shadows," Hinch said with a laugh. "So I'm the wrong person to talk about offensive adjustments."
It was a lighthearted remark from the leader of a team trudging through the dark. A little levity won't hurt. But the Tigers' hitting woes are no joke. Before Detroit got on the board with two runs in the fifth of Tuesday's Game 1, it had gone 28 innings without scoring a run -- topping the '05 Tigers for the club's longest scoreless drought this century.
In 10 of their seasons since moving to Comerica Park in 2000, the Tigers have had a bottom-five offense in the AL. They were dead last in '02, '03 and '19. This year's offense just set a new low. That's a troubling thought for a team that expected to push for a playoff spot this season. The Tigers aren't pushing for anything until they start pushing more runs across the plate.
Entering Tuesday, Detroit had three regulars hitting below .200: Jonathan Schoop, Jeimer Candelario and Spencer Torkelson. Plus a bench player in Eric Haase and another in Akil Baddoo who was just sent to Triple-A. It also had the fewest homers and the second fewest runs in the majors.
"We've got a number of guys that have scuffled, the numbers will indicate it," said Hinch. "I think it's individual based. When you talk about a team collectively struggling, they all have to get out of it a little bit differently. Some guys swing their way out of it, some guys are a little extra patient. You gotta be careful going too far to either extreme because then you start chasing bad pitches or you start taking pitches that you should hit.
"At the end of the day, we have to stay with a game plan."
It was a little luck that helped the Tigers end their drought Tuesday. After Schoop worked a lead-off walk to start the fifth, Willi Castro blooped a single into left field and Tucker Barnhart reached first when the A's misplayed his sac bunt attempt. Derek Hill drove home Schoop with a sacrifice fly to get the Tigers on the board for the first time since last Saturday, and then Robbie Grossman beat out a potential double-play ball to bring home Castro.
And the next inning, Schoop drilled his first home run of the season to extend Detroit's lead to 3-0.
