After late rally, Tigers can't get winning relief 

KANSAS CITY -- Tigers manager Ron Gardenhire has spent most of this season trying to figure out how to get his bullpen to eat enough innings to get through games. He hasn’t had a chance to sort out an order to win games.

“We're not even close to that because of so many short starts,” Gardenhire said following a 6-5 loss to the Royals on Tuesday night. “We're just basically trying to get through games most of the time just because they've all been beat to crap.”

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For someone who once built a division dynasty in Minnesota on the strength of his late-inning relief corps, that speaks volumes about the challenges he has faced in Detroit’s rebuilding project. So did the last couple innings of the series opener at Kauffman Stadium.

As pinch-hitter Ryan O’Hearn’s ninth-inning drive off Zac Reininger carried out for a walk-off homer, in the same direction where Brett Phillips forced Brandon Dixon to make a highlight catch at the left-field wall one pitch earlier, the Tigers’ disadvantage was glaring. Reininger had just been recalled from Triple-A Toledo, where he had been stretched out as a starter over the last two weeks. He returned as a September callup for depth more than leverage.

Once Ronny Rodríguez's single tied the game in the top of the ninth, and Alex Gordon’s throw home prevented Willi Castro from scoring the go-ahead run, Reininger became the bridge to extra innings that never crossed the ninth.

“Zac's been stretched out. We're just searching for people to get outs then,” Gardenhire said. “Obviously he didn't, and [O'Hearn] clicked on one. But he's been throwing good [in Toledo], been pitching real well. That's why we put him out there, and it didn't work out.”

It wasn’t an ideal scenario, and Gardenhire knew it. But the Tigers’ struggles this summer left ideal scenarios behind a while ago.

Joe Jimenez had been the closer of the future by the time he arrived in Detroit two years ago. But once he got the job, the support role he had been filling in the eighth inning became a mishmash more than a committee.

Buck Farmer entered the eighth inning on Monday with a 3-2 lead over the Twins, loaded the bases with a walk and two singles, then he gave way to Matt Hall for a lefty-lefty matchup with Max Kepler.

One night later against the Royals, after Christin Stewart’s pinch-hit RBI single and Dixon’s sacrifice fly provided another eighth-inning lead, Gardenhire hoped to get one more inning out of Drew VerHagen, who had piggybacked Daniel Norris’ start. By the time the inning was over, Farmer was in again, the fourth pitcher of the inning to hold Detroit’s deficit at a run.

“Didn't really want to have to get him in this game,” Gardenhire said. “That was the plan, but as I came out there, we had to get him to get an out. [Gregory] Soto's been throwing really good. He just got excited and cut a couple of balls that were supposed to be fastballs. He just got a little excited and threw it around a little bit. That's the frustrating part. But we battled again.”

Soto suffered some bad luck; Gordon’s game-tying chopper over the mound left a charging Castro with little choice but to eat the ball.

“I was playing a little deep,” Castro said. “I didn’t think there was a chance. If I would’ve thrown it, it could’ve been an error or something. I was rushing a little bit. It was better for me to keep the ball.”

But the Royals set up a situation with a double steal, sending speedy Adalberto Mondesi to third as the tying run while Jorge Soler rumbled to second with the go-ahead tally. Soto regrouped from Gordon’s single to put Ryan McBroom in an 0-2 count, but Soto uncorked a wild pitch to put the Royals in front and ball four to keep the inning going and bring out Gardenhire to call on Farmer.

If Gardenhire could wear a step tracker in his job, the numbers might best tell the story of the Tigers’ season.

“We have a few defined roles,” he said. “We've tried to get Buck through the eighth and Jimi to the ninth, but getting up to that point, it's take a shot. That's what we've been doing, and we did it again tonight.”

Farmer retired Bubba Starling to end the rally, and singles from Grayson Greiner (his third hit of the night) and Victor Reyes (his fourth) put the Tigers back on the offensive to tie it. Though Castro looked like he had beaten Gordon’s throw, catcher Nick Dini tagged him before he could get his foot down on the plate. The Tigers challenged and the call was confirmed.

“I thought I beat it,” he said. “You can't do anything about it. I was trying my best. Stuff happens. It's part of the game.”

At some point, Bryan Garcia could give the Tigers another reliable arm in tight games, but he just made his Major League debut on Monday. For now, Gardenhire is mixing and matching with whatever fresh arms he has on a given night. It’s not ideal, but it’s what he has.