Bad offense sinks Detroit Tigers below .500 for first time in 2-0 loss to Miami Marlins

Detroit Tigers manager A.J. Hinch turned 50 years old on Wednesday, and for his golden birthday present, he had one request: He asked for the Tigers to score runs. He joked about wanting nine runs, but all he really needed was enough to win the game.

His players must have forgotten his birthday.

The Tigers were shut out for the second game in a row, losing 2-0 to the Miami Marlins in Wednesday's finale of a three-game series at Comerica Park. The Tigers, falling below a .500 record for the first time this season, haven't scored a run since Spencer Torkelson hit a clutch home run in Monday's eighth inning for a one-run victory in the series opener, a stretch of 18 scoreless innings.

Right-hander Casey Mize did his part, allowing two runs on two hits and one walk with six strikeouts across six innings. He retired the final 11 batters, as well as 18 of the final 19 batters following a two-run home run in the first inning.

Mize has a 3.50 ERA in eight starts.

The Tigers (21-22) had runners on base in seven of nine innings, but that didn't matter because nobody crossed home plate. Left-hander Trevor Rogers, who dropped his ERA from 6.57 to 5.79 after facing the slumping Tigers, shoved five scoreless innings on three hits and two walks with six strikeouts.

Only twice — in the third and ninth innings — did the Tigers advance a runner into scoring position. The third inning represented the Tigers' best opportunity to score after a Carson Kelly walk, an Andy Ibáñez hit by pitch and a Mark Canha walk.

With two outs, Gio Urshela — known for his ability to make contact despite poor swing decisions — struck out by swinging at three pitches in a row, all changeups below the strike zone. He fouled the first pitch before whiffing at the second and third pitches to strand the bases loaded in the third inning.

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The Tigers have scored 45 runs through 13 games in May, with a 4-9 record, for an average of 3.46 runs per game. The Tigers scored 19 of those 45 runs in two games, and in the other 11 games, they're averaging 2.36 runs per game.

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Casey Mize makes adjustment

Mize, who threw 45.1% four-seam fastballs in his first seven starts, utilized just 23.3% four-seamers in six innings against the Marlins. He relied heavily on his splitter and slider for the first time this season, and the plan worked.

After the first two batters, the Marlins didn't get another hit against Mize in his 90-pitch performance. That's because Mize kept the Marlins guessing, especially early in counts.

He went to his fastball six times to 21 batters on the first pitch in plate appearances. He also used four sliders, four splitters, four sinkers and two knuckle curves, not including an automatic ball due to a pitch timer violation.

Mize gave up back-to-back hits to start his outing, a single to Jazz Chisholm Jr. on a splitter and a two-run home run to Bryan De la Cruz on a curveball.

The homer put the Marlins ahead, 2-0.

Mize recorded back-to-back strikeouts to end his outing, sending down De La Cruz swinging on a middle-away fastball and Josh Bell swinging on a down-and-in curveball that was painted on the edge of the strike zone.

Mize threw 29 splitters, 25 sliders, 21 four-seam fastballs, eight sinkers and seven knuckle curveballs. He incorporated the sinker into his pitch mix for the first time this season. The velocity on all his pitches was down, possibly because of his intent to mix in more splitters and sliders.

He generated 12 whiffs on 52 swings — a 23.3% whiff rate — on five splitters, three sliders, four fastballs and one knuckle curve. His fastball averaged 93.7 mph, down from his 95.5 mph average throughout his first seven starts.

Bad offense

The Tigers put runners on base in the first, second, third, fifth, seventh, eight and ninth innings.

In the first inning, the Tigers failed to advance Matt Vierling after a leadoff single. In the second, Javier Báez grounded out after Torkelson's two-out single. In the third, the Tigers stranded the bases loaded, a result of Urshela's three-pitch strikeout. In the fifth, the Tigers failed to advance Kelly after a leadoff single. In the seventh, pinch-hitter Riley Greene popped out after Kelly's two-out single. In the eighth, Colt Keith grounded out after Mark Canha's two-out single.

Rogers led the Marlins through the first five innings, but four relievers out of the bullpen finished the job. In the ninth inning, pinch-hitter Jake Rogers (groundout), Torkelson (flyout) and Greene (strikeout) were sent down by left-handed reliever Tanner Scott, who worked around two-out singles from Báez and Kelly.

Greene stranded runners on the corners when he struck out to end the game.

Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him @EvanPetzold.

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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Tigers' bad offense sinks team below .500 with loss to Marlins