Sanchez roughed up early as Tigers fall to Orioles
Baltimore — Anibal Sanchez, in many ways, symbolizes what this 2015 season has been about for the Tigers.
In turns Saturday in the Tigers' 6-2 loss to the Baltimore Orioles, he was really good and really bad.
The same guy who made Adam Jones swing weakly at a third-strike slider, threw a batting practice fastball that Orioles catcher Caleb Joseph slammed over the wall in left field.
The same guy who breezily retired the side in order in the third, fifth and sixth innings, was tagged for three runs and five hits before he got his fifth out of the game.
The same guy who allowed just 13 home runs over 308 innings in 2013 and 2014, added two to his career-high 24 this season — second most in the American League.
The same guy who had the lowest ERA among starting pitchers in baseball in 2013, now has one climbing near 5.00.
His confounding inconsistency mirrors that of this team, which hasn't had a winning streak of more than two games since June 21-24, has lost two straight, sit four games under .500 and is essentially using these last two months as auditions for roles in next season's drama.
"That stat line doesn't show how well he threw the ball," catcher James McCann said of Sanchez. "Take away two pitches, one to Joseph and one to Manny Machado, and he pitched very well."
BOX SCORE: Orioles 6, Tigers 2
That's what manager Brad Ausmus told Sanchez when he removed him from the game with two outs in the seventh after he hung a change-up that Machado hit into the Orioles bullpen.
"Sometimes you go through a game and you make a mistake and the guy fouls it off," he said. "And other times you make a mistake and they get hit over the wall. … His results weren't there, but Sanchey was good tonight."
Maybe so, but we're not judging on a small sample-size here. This was his 22nd start. He's 10-9 and has given up four or more runs 11 times.
"I try to do my job every fifth day," said Sanchez, barely concealing his frustration. "I prepare so much. I have a good game plan and have been doing it for the whole year — in bad situations and good situations.
"But it's like a rollercoaster right now. I know they've got a pretty good team and they've got pretty good hitters. I make good pitches and they just don't work."
The two home runs off Sanchez accounted for three runs. Take those away and still, the way Orioles hard-throwing right-hander Kevin Gausman was pitching, the Tigers might still have come up short.
He retired the first 11 hitters he faced until Ian Kinsler singled with two outs in the fourth.
Nick Castellanos' long, two-run homer to right-center was the only damage against him. It was Castellanos' 11th home run, tying his rookie season total from last year.
Gausman (2-2) was throwing his fastball between 96 and 98 mph in the first inning. And he was still throwing it that hard in the seventh, his final inning of work. He allowed four hits and struck out six.
The mood around this team now, to say the least, is sullen. And the 3-6 record on this trip is only partly to blame.
"It's been tough," McCann said. "The won-loss record is a no-brainer, but we lost three guys to trades. It's very apparent what kind of ballplayers they are. But the people who are in this clubhouse every day see them more how they were great teammates and great people. It does hurt.
"There is definitely a different atmosphere in the locker room, but it's part of the business."
chris.mccosky@detroitnews.com
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