In three starts, right-hander has a WHIP over 2.00; Kinsler collect two of team's five hits in shutout
KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Mike Pelfrey is giving up a bunch of hits and a bunch of walks. He can’t explain his lack of command.
“I don’t think my command’s every been this bad, but it’s unacceptable,” Pelfrey said after his third straight loss as a Tiger.
The Tigers lost 4-0 to the Royals on Thursday night at Kauffman Stadium to end their three-city road trip 4-4.
Pelfrey allowed four runs (three earned) over five innings. He gave up four hits, including a home run, and five walks. He’s 0-3 with a 3.68 ERA and a 2.18 WHIP.
“I feel bad for the guys behind me,” Pelfrey said. “Having to go hit after standing around the field for 40 minutes. I take the blame for this. This is my fault. It’s unacceptable.
“I need to be a lot better. A lot better. And I need to figure it out pretty fast. It’s embarrassing. I haven’t been good enough three starts. Been pretty terrible. I’ll figure it out.”
Pelfrey allowed six runs (two earned) over 3 2/3 innings in his first start as a Tiger, an 8-4 loss to the Yankees on April 9. He allowed seven hits and one walk.
He allowed one run in a 1-0 loss to the Astros last Friday, but allowed five hits and six walks over six innings.
Pelfrey said his sinker isn’t sinking.
“It’s running more,” he said. “So that immediately tells me I’m not getting on top of it. I’m going to try and go back and watch video, figure something out. But I need to be a lot better than I have been.
“It’s frustrating on my part. Two games in a row, should have been a lot worse, I think. All that traffic on the base paths and stuff. In the field, these guys keep backing me up. I keep trying to grind, you know? It’s frustrating.”
Pelfrey allowed a double and two singles to start the game, falling behind 1-0.
The Royals scored three runs in the fourth inning to take a 4-0 lead. Tigers third baseman Nick Castellanos had a tough time at third in that inning. A hard hit ball went off Castellanos’ glove, resulting in a double for ex-Tiger Omar Infante.
The Royals moved Infante to third on a sacrifice bunt and home on a sacrifice fly by Alcides Escobar.
Pelfrey then gave up a 414-foot home run to center to Mike Moustakas.
With Kendrys Morales batting and runners on first and second, the Royals succeeded in a double steal. Castellanos couldn’t handle the throw by catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia, which allowed Lorenzo Cain to score and Eric Hosmer to advance to third.
Pelfrey, who signed a two-year, $16 million deal in December, fell to 0-3 for the first time in his career. He’s winless over his last 16 road starts dating back to May 14, 2015 against the Tigers. He’s 0-9 with a 6.32 ERA (52 earned runs over 74 innings) in that stretch. He’s also winless over his last 11 starts overall, going 0-7 with a 5.54 ERA dating back to Aug. 18, 2015.
“I’m sure it’s not fun playing around a guy that can’t throw strikes,” Pelfrey said.
Is he confident he can bounce back?
“Yeah, I’m fine,” he said. “I’m healthy. ... Going to find a way.”
The sinker isn’t his only issue.
“Sinker’s been flat,” Pelfrey said. “Split was flat tonight. Wasn’t getting on top of that. Sinker being flat, I wasn’t getting on top of that. I’ll figure it out and get ready for the next one in five days.”
Tigers manager Brad Ausmus said “this is not the way we want it drawn up on an every fifth day basis.”
Ian Kinsler went 2-for-4 for his four straight multi-hit game and extended his hitting streak to nine games. The Tigers’ best chance to score came in the fourth inning. With the bases loaded and two outs, Saltalamacchia struck out swinging.
Edinson Volquez limited the Tigers to five hits and one walk over seven innings with five strikeouts. Volquez is 3-0 for the first time since 2008.
“He just made his pitches when he needed to, simple as that,” Saltalamacchia said. “We had some situations where we could have got some runs in. Couldn’t get the job done. He mixes two-seam, four-seam. Threw some pitches he doesn’t usually throw to some of the righties, I think. But he just didn’t miss over the middle of the plate.”
