BALTIMORE – The Detroit Tigers are trying anything.
On Friday, manager Brad Ausmus tried filling his lineup card out with a pencil. Bullpen coach Mick Billmeyer tried posting it inside the clubhouse upside-down.
“We’ll see if it works,” Ausmus said. “If it does, I’ll do it in pencil again next day.”
Asked if he was superstitious, he said, “I’ve tried everything at this point.”
And nothing is working. Not even sending their stopper out to the mound, ace right-hander Justin Verlander, who has been halting Tigers losing streaks for the past decade.
Verlander was good, but the Tigers offense was bad.