Fulmer rusty in return; Kinsler, Ausmus ejected in Tigers' loss
Arlington, Texas — Making his first start in 14 days, there was bound to be some rust. And there was — roughly 64 pitches and four innings worth.
That’s how long it took for Tigers starter Michael Fulmer to start looking like himself Monday, and by then, irrevocable damage had been done and the Tigers were on their way to a 6-2 loss to the Rangers.
“I feel good,” Fulmer said. “That’s really the only positive I can take out of today. I was just out of sync, especially that first inning. I kind of got better as the game went on, but I felt like every pitch was either a ball or right down the middle.”
The Tigers are now 2-8 since they ran off four straight wins at the start of this month.
BOX SCORE: Rangers 6, Tigers 2
The emotional highlight for the Tigers came in the fifth inning when Ian Kinsler and manager Brad Ausmus were ejected by home plate umpire Angel Hernandez.
Hernandez called strike one on Kinsler on a pitch that replays showed to be well low of the strike zone. On the second pitch, a ball, Kinsler turned and said something snarky and was ejected.
He then pointed at Hernandez with his bat, at close range, and proceeded to get his money’s worth verbally. Ausmus interjected quickly and earned his third ejection of the season.
“I’m not going to talk about the umpires,” said bench coach Gene Lamont, who took over after Ausmus was ejected. “That’s a losing battle when you do that … I’m sure (the strike call) is what led to the ejection. You get frustrated and say the wrong thing and the next thing you know, you’re gone.”
That was about all the fire the Tigers could muster.
By the time Fulmer pitched a clean, 11-pitch fifth inning, he had allowed five runs on seven hits and three walks. He was at 75 pitches and done for the night.
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“No pitch count,” Lamont said. “I just thought five innings was enough, 75 pitches. He was rusty. He walked three guys in the first inning. He usually doesn’t walk three guys in nine innings. I just don’t think he had a real good feel for it tonight.”
Just off the disabled list (right ulnar neuritis), Fulmer walked the first two batters he faced and both would score — on a single by Nomar Mazara and a sacrifice fly by Adrian Beltre — in a 27-pitch first inning.
“I knew I was going too fast; I knew my mechanics were fast and I was rushing to the plate,” Fulmer said. “The first couple of hitters I was overthrowing and I tried to back off. That didn’t work either.
“I knew exactly what I was doing wrong, I just couldn’t fix it. I couldn’t stay back on my back leg.”
The first two batters reached in the second inning, as well, but this time with singles. With Drew Robinson at the plate and missing a bunt attempt, catcher James McCann caught Rougned Odor straying too far off second base and threw behind him.
Odor broke for third.
Third baseman Nick Castellanos, charging on the bunt attempt, hesitated slightly but got back to the bag at third. Shortstop Jose Iglesias opted not to make the throw.
“I thought we had a play,” Castellanos said. “I was there. I definitely was there.”
Lamont said: “Nick was a little slow reacting and Iggy wasn’t sure he was going to get back. Jose just wasn’t sure.”
It was a stolen base for Odor, and he scored on a safety squeeze bunt by Delino DeShields — a play where McCann may have had a play at the plate.
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“If I had it to do over again, instead of going for the tag (on DeShields), I would have looked the runner back to third, or I would have tagged him out at home and let DeShields have first,” McCann said.
It was a bad bunt, right in front of home plate. McCann thought he’d have time to tag DeShields and still get back to make the tag at the plate on Odor.
“DeShields wasn’t that far out of the box and that’s why I went for the tag in the first place,” he said. “But by the time the ball dropped into my glove, he was too far for me to tag and Odor was much closer to home where there was no play.”
The Tigers were well-informed about the Rangers’ proclivity to bunt, especially with runners at first and third.
“We knew they do that,” Lamont said. “We have all these bunt sheets that we went over. It wasn’t a good bunt, but we didn’t execute real well on that play.”
The other runs off Fulmer were well-earned. Joey Gallo hit a 428-foot home run to center field in the third, and Odor doubled and scored on a single by Robinson in the fourth.
“Really there’s no excuses,” Fulmer said. “I have to figure it out. I have to work a lot harder between starts. We have an off-day (Thursday), so I will get an extra day. Maybe I will throw two bullpens and just try to figure it out.”
The Tigers, once upon a time in this game, held a 2-0 lead. Justin Upton hit his 23rd home run, a two-run shot onto the berm in center field in the first inning. The bats — other than Mikie Mahtook, who had three more hits — went still after that.
Rangers starter Martin Perez put up zeros from the second through the sixth inning, then a trio of relievers locked it down from there.
Right-hander Ricky Rodriguez, making his major-league debut, pitched a scoreless seventh inning, striking out McCann and Alex Presley. Righty Matt Bush pitched a scoreless eighth.
In the ninth, the Tigers loaded the bases and had the tying run at the plate with two outs against Alex Claudio, a side-winding lefty. John Hicks, McCann and Iglesias singled.
That left it to Dixon Machado, who took over after Kinsler was ejected. Miguel Cabrera (back stiffness) was on the bench, but not available.
“His back is tight and we need to get it better,” Lamont said. “That’s the best thing we can do. You pinch-hit him there and he might be out for a week. We’ll just see how he is tomorrow. I would have liked to use him but, with a sore back it’s tough to hit.
“We need to get it better and get him back in the lineup.”
Machado struck out to end the game.
Twitter.com: @cmccosky