Mike Dinovo- USA TODAY Sports
The Detroit Tigers played for nearly 4.5 hours Tuesday night against the Chicago White Sox, and all they have to show for it is another heartbreaking loss. You have to expect cold streaks at points, but it seems as though the Tigers are really beating themselves, be it from stranding more men than Kim Kardashian or having a bullpen more shaky than a James Bond drink.
The Tigers have now lost four of five and are struggling to find themselves both at the plate and in the bullpen, which had been two of their biggest strengths during their 12-game win streak.
The Tigers’ lead has now been cut to six games over the Cleveland Indians, and the road to the AL Central may not be as easy as some may have thought it would be a week ago. Now facing the prospect of perhaps being swept by the worst team in the division with a crucial five-game series with one of the hottest teams in the AL looming in the Kansas City Royals, there is reason to be a little worried.
All of the positivity that was gained from that winning streak seems to have disappeared, and now the team that struggles to cash in opportunities and struggles to not give up late-inning runs is back, and so are the losses. Hopefully this is just a minor bump in the road, but these structural problems are what is keeping the Tigers from reaching their full potential that was shown earlier in the month.
Tonight needs to be soaked in as a lesson on what will happen if they don’t treat the game with the utmost focus no matter who the opponent is.
Brent Smith is a Detroit Tigers writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @brentweets or add him to your network on Google
