Bumped up to No. 2, J.D. snaps out of slide

DETROIT — J.D. Martinez understands why baseball is considered a fun game, why players can remain enthusiastic even when times get tough. But the Tigers slugger also might have given the best explanation of why the opposite is true when hitters are struggling, as he had been before hitting a three-run homer off A’s ace Sonny Gray in the second inning of Wednesday night’s 9-4 win.

“You can say baseball’s fun, you’re in the big leagues, you get to come to a Major League field every day — and, yeah, that’s great,” said Martinez, who followed Wednesday’s homer with a fourth-inning sacrifice fly to the warning track. “I love it. Obviously, this is a job, it’s a grind, but it’s what you love to do. It’s your passion. I get to play what I dreamed about since I was a kid. So, on that end, I love it. But I also take pride in it.

“When I come to the park, when I go out there, you don’t know who’s watching. People come out here to see you play and see you perform, and when you’re not performing, you’re not producing, like our lineup … it’s very frustrating, because you know you could be doing so much better. And you know what to expect from yourself. And when …

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