Bullpen questions emerge after Tigers' loss in extras

TORONTO -- Four years and a day have passed since Trey Wingenter picked up his only Major League save as a rookie reliever with the Padres. Former Tiger Ian Kinsler was San Diego’s second baseman and Adam Jones was one of two Arizona hitters Wingenter walked before a pair of called third strikes finished off the game.

Since then, Wingenter has been through surgeries on his elbow and back before making the Tigers’ Opening Day roster this year.

When Alex Lange retired the Blue Jays in order in the eighth inning on Wednesday night, Wingenter knew he’d get the ninth. All he had to do was face Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Matt Chapman and Daulton Varsho before a raucous Rogers Centre crowd.

“I definitely had a good feeling, had a good prep going in,” Wingenter said. “Everything feels good. Body feels good. I was ready to get in there and attack and embrace the opportunity.”

As he walked off the field three batters later, having loaded the bases on a single, a four-pitch walk and a hit-by-pitch -- with a wild pitch mixed in between -- Wingenter was cursing himself.

“You can't let the moment get too big, and you also can't tense up,” Wingenter said after the Tigers’ 4-3 Wednesday loss in 10 innings dropped them to 2-9. “We've had a rough skid, and I want to go out there and get us in the win column. That can hurt you a little bit, too. You press a little bit too much, and they're a momentum-based team. One thing goes well and they get the snowball rolling. That's kind of what happened tonight.

“[The Tigers] trust me to close the thing out. I kind of let the boys down there. That one's definitely on me.”

Realistically, that’s not fair. The Tigers put themselves in a position to trust the ninth inning to a talented reliever settling in after three years without pitching above Rookie-level baseball. This is the process they knew they’d have to endure. It’s also part of the club’s worst start to a season since 2008.

The bullpen was Detroit’s biggest strength last year, as difficult as it was. The Tigers lost just twice when leading after eight innings and five times when leading after seven in 2022. They had more come-from-behind victories when trailing after those innings than fall-from-ahead losses.

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But Detroit’s biggest strength was also its biggest asset from which to trade. Former general manager Al Avila dealt Michael Fulmer last August and Andrew Chafin opted out of his contract at season’s end. President of baseball operations Scott Harris traded All-Stars Joe Jimenez in December and Gregory Soto in January.

When the team didn’t sign another reliever to a Major League contract this offseason, it committed to trying out a group of young, unproven arms. There’s a risk that goes with doing that with a squad that struggles to score runs and build late-inning leads. But it’s part of the process the Tigers embarked on to find unproven, sometimes undervalued relievers and elevate them.

“We have to try to get 27 outs,” manager A.J. Hinch said. “We’ve got to get there a lot of different ways. And obviously when you’ve got to get nine [outs], you’ve got to go through that order a full time again.”

Jason Foley replaced Eduardo Rodriguez after six innings of one-run ball and retired the Blue Jays in order in the seventh, spotting three fastballs on Tiger killer Whit Merrifield. Lange struck out Kevin Kiermaier and George Springer on his way to a 12-pitch eighth. Hinch didn’t answer on whether Lange was a consideration to stay in for the ninth.

“Obviously at the end, it always looks like you could do something different,” Hinch said. “But it’s not the way we want.”

Once Wingenter loaded the bases, Detroit went to its two veterans. Lefty Chasen Shreve retired all four batters he faced, but back-to-back sacrifice flies tied the game, and Kiermaier’s 10th-inning sacrifice bunt moved Danny Jansen to third before Springer greeted José Cisnero with a game-winning single.

Detroit’s only save belongs to Garrett Hill in an extra-inning win against the Astros last week. That’ll eventually change, but Hinch and his coaches have some sorting out to do. Even if Lange becomes the closer, someone will have to get the outs before him if he isn’t a multi-inning reliever. Maybe Wingenter settles down, maybe Foley steps up. Maybe Brendan White arrives from Triple-A Toledo. Maybe veterans Trevor Rosenthal or Matt Wisler figure out their games down there.

With a struggling team, an uncertain bullpen doesn’t often stand out. Sometimes, though, it stings.