DETROIT -- A psychological barrier? A lingering remnant of his elbow surgery last year? A mere fluke caused by a small sample size?
Whatever the case, when Michael Fulmer took the mound to start the sixth inning on Friday night, here's what the numbers said:
From innings one through five, Fulmer was essentially the same pitcher he was in 2016 and 2017: A 3.41 ERA, 55 strikeouts and 19 walks.
In innings six and seven, he was falling apart: A 10.63 ERA through 11 innings, with eight walks and four strikeouts.
So when Fulmer retired the top of the Cleveland Indians' order in the sixth inning and then returned to strike out the side in the seventh (all the while pumping upper-90s fastballs) it felt like he had crossed a major threshold.