Chris Nelsen, Special to the Detroit Free Press
Tigers closer admits he's 'extremely disappointed' in Thursday's effort, but manager wouldn't pin loss on him
If he wasn’t the story, then Francisco Rodriguez, in the vernacular of journalism, was the lede.
No, the veteran closer wasn’t the reason the Tigers lost to the Mariners Thursday afternoon. That, as manager Brad Ausmus fact-checked a reporter, fell on the flat offense. But Rodriguez once again could not get the job done in the ninth inning, taking the loss, looking no differently than he has for the first month of the season, which is to say, not good.