It wasn't a pretty night at Comerica Park on Tuesday as the Detroit Tigers got beaten badly by the Milwaukee Brewers , 12-4. If it wasn't for a three-run ninth, the linescore would've looked much worse, but even with the three runs, it doesn't look any better.
Just when the Tigers seemed to have gotten some momentum, sweeping their last homestand , splitting a series in Boston , and getting back over .500, they took a step back, continuing their April showers. In the loss to the Brewers, it was bad for both the offense and the pitching staff.
Keider Montero did his job, going 5.2 innings and allowing three runs, which kept the offense in the game to give fans in Detroit hope. But that hope quickly turned into several fans heading for the parking lot earlier than expected, unfortunately, due to a bad performance from Enmanuel De Jesus.
Detroit Tigers manager A.J. Hinch (14) walks off the field for a pitching change. | Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
In his postgame following the beatdown, Tigers manager A.J. Hinch was asked for his thoughts on De Jesus's performance, another outing in which he's making it seem like his job is in jeopardy.
"That was a rough one," Hinch said in blunt comments during his post-game press conference broadcast on Tigers television. "It started off great. He comes in, the punch out, and executes to get out of that inning, we're still in the game... We were going to get him through the lineup, hopefully once, to get the ball to Finny (Kyle Finnegan) or Will (Vest), but things piled up for him a little bit."
"Whether it was a mistake pitch or a mistake PFP, which was an out that turned into a crooked number and then not covering first, I think it was just a collection of mental lapses that created a messy game."
De Jesus's ERA now sits at 10.13 after allowing seven runs, five earned runs, on seven hits in 1.1 innings pitched (49 pitches thrown) on Tuesday night. In his career, De Jesus holds an 8.31 ERA.
Detroit Tigers pitcher Keider Montero (54) throws during the first inning. | David Reginek-Imagn Images
Hinch claimed that Montero "saved the bullpen" in his postgame press conference before talking about De Jesus, and with how he's pitched to start the year, it's too difficult to send him back down to Triple-A.
Montero was recalled to fill in for Justin Verlander as he recovers from injury, but with how the bullpen has looked, other than a handful of players, it could use an arm like Montero when Verlander makes his return.
This article was originally published on www.si.com/mlb/tigers/onsi as Tigers Boss Breaks Down Performances from Enmanuel De Jesus, Keider Montero .
