One Simple Mistake Showed How Small the Margin of Error Is for This Tigers Team
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The Detroit Tigers were feeling good entering Wednesday.
Coming off their frustrating series sweep against the Los Angeles Dodgers to open the year where they had ample opportunities to secure multiple victories during that set, they traveled north to face the Seattle Mariners and won two in a row.
During those contests, the offense came to life.
After not capitalizing on runners in scoring position against the Dodgers, things changed in the opener against the Mariners when the Tigers put nine runs up on the board.
Things cooled off a bit in the second game, but they still tagged AL Cy Young contender Logan Gilbert for three runs before adding an insurance score in the eighth inning.
And with Tarik Skubal taking the mound for the finale, Detroit was eyeing a sweep to get their record back to .500.
It didn't work out that way, though.
The Tigers lost 3-2, and their ace was credited with the loss after he gave up three earned runs.
The first two came in the second inning when Colt Keith made a mental error with two outs, fielding a ground ball at second base and turning to throw to second for the force out instead of directly going to first.
With runners on first and second instead of being out of the frame, Victor Robles belted a two-run double that gave Seattle a 2-0 lead that Detroit couldn't overcome.
It was an early moment that came back to haunt the Tigers, and it showed there is not a lot of room for error when it comes to this team.
Even with the reigning AL Cy Young winner on the mound, Detroit was handed a loss against one of the most offensively challenged teams in the league, highlighting the offensive flaws that exist for this lineup, as well.
Keith owned the mistake, saying he "just kind of panicked." But those are the moments that can come back to haunt the Tigers if they get into the playoffs again or even prevent them from playing October baseball this year.
This singular play isn't something that will make or break their season.
However, it is a reminder that Detroit has to play mistake free if they are going to compete with the upper echelon of teams in Major League Baseball, especially as they search for offensive production with Gleyber Torres, Matt Vierling and Kerry Carpenter on the shelf.
Because if they aren't able to win low-scoring games when their superstar ace is on the mound, then that is not a good sign about what this team's ceiling can be going forward.
