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Tigers’ bats slump to finish out homestand
- Updated: July 20, 2016
DETROIT — The first sign that Tigers manager Brad Ausmus was trying different ideas to get his team out of its offensive slump came before his players got to the park Wednesday. Ausmus let them sleep in a bit before their getaway-day game against the Twins, arriving by noon for the 1:10 p.m. ET start.
“Just kind of ‘show and go,'” Ausmus said, “but didn’t have much of an effect.”
The last sign came in the ninth inning, the Tigers on their way to a 4-1 loss but rallying, and James McCann due up against Minnesota closer Brandon Kintzler. On Tuesday, Ausmus cited the right-handed Kintzler’s reverse splits, making him statistically tougher against left-handed batters, as a reason he let McCann face him. On Wednesday, in a similar situation, Ausmus called on switch-hitting Jarrod Saltalamacchia to pinch-hit with two on and the potential tying run at the plate.
“It’s one at-bat, but Kintzler struck Mac out the night before,” said Ausmus, noting the small sample size he usually avoids. “I just said we’ll throw the numbers to the wind and see if Salty can get a hold of one.”
That didn’t have much impact, either. Kintzler struck out Saltalamacchia on a called third …
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