Tigers won't miss matchups with 2019 Tribe

CLEVELAND -- From their first American League meeting on May 3, 1901, when George Stallings' Tigers beat Jimmy McAleer's Blues, the Detroit and Cleveland franchises have shared a long and complicated competitive legacy.

The 1940 AL pennant race came down to the antepenultimate day of the regular season, when Floyd Giebell outdueled Bob Feller in the clincher at Municipal Stadium. The 1960 season featured two seismic swaps – of reigning home run champion Rocky Colavito for reigning batting champion Harvey Kuenn prior to Opening Day, and then of managers Joe Gordon and Jimmy Dykes in August. In the late 20th and early 21st centuries, there have been occasional flirtations with a real Rust Belt race but, mostly, the two clubs have alternated positions in the AL Central pecking order -- the Indians retooling while the Tigers thrive, and vice versa.

Never, though, has there been a Cleveland-Detroit season series quite like the one that wrapped up with the Tigers' 7-0 loss on Thursday night at Progressive Field. It was a series that both broke the historical mold and actually evened the historical scale (more on that in a sec).

• Box score

The Tigers went 1-18 against the Indians, including a current 17-game losing streak that stands alone as Detroit's longest against any one opponent since at least 1908.

"They've had our number," Tigers manager Ron Gardenhire said of the Indians. "That's an understatement."

• Most dominant team performances vs. 1 club

The Tigers' .053 winning percentage vs. Cleveland is the most lopsided ledger of the divisional era (dating back to 1969) between teams playing each other at least 15 times. In that time, no team had ever beaten another 18 times. The Tigers' run differential against the Indians was minus-78.

"It bothers us. A lot," said Drew VerHagen, whose six runs allowed in relief sealed the deal on a night when the offense couldn't capitalize on any opportunities against Mike Clevinger. "I don't think it's to the point where we're tense because we feel like we want to beat this team. But leaving here, getting swept, it just puts a bad taste in your mouth."

If you don't find the present-day pounding an AL playoff contender unleashed upon a Detroit team steamrolling toward next year's No. 1 overall Draft pick (their "magic number" vs. the Orioles is down to 8) especially compelling, consider what it meant in the context of a rivalry now 119 seasons strong:

The all-time series between the Tigers and Tribe is knotted up at 992 wins apiece.

Story to be continued on Opening Day -- March 26, 2020 -- right back here at Progressive Field.

How did the Tigers let a 17-game series lead fade like a Lake Erie sunset?

Well, the short answer is the recurring theme of a 2019 season teeming with teachable moments and opportunity for the unproven. The Tigers have one of baseball's highest team ERAs, lowest team OPS marks and worst-rated defensive units. They were not designed to be anything other than what they are, which is a bottom-rung ballclub. The 2019 season ultimately ought only be judged by what it means in the context of, say, the 2022 season.

And yet, as bad as the Tigers have been, they've reserved their absolute worst for the Indians:

AVG: .200 vs. Indians, .246 vs. everybody else
OBP: .239 vs. Indians, .303 vs. everybody else
SLG: .331 vs. Indians, .397 vs. everybody else
ERA: 5.48 vs. Indians, 5.21 vs. everybody else
WHIP: 1.62 vs. Indians, 1.43 vs. everybody else
Errors per game: 0.74 vs. Indians, 0.66 vs. everybody else
Runs scored per game: 2.0 vs. Indians, 3.9 vs. everybody else
Runs allowed per game: 6.1 vs. Indians, 5.6 vs. everybody else
Winning percentage: .053 vs. Indians, .331 vs. everybody else

"They do a lot of good things, pitching-wise, bullpen-wise, and they have a lot of athletes," Gardenhire said. "We're young. Think about it: How many rookies did we have on the field tonight? I think it was eight. You're talking about kids, guys with less than two years of experience. You're talking about a very young baseball team going up against a team with a shot at going to the playoffs. Hopefully we''ll get better as we go along here."

Just as the Indians will have the Tigers to thank should they find a way to advance to the AL Wild Card Game, the Tigers will have the Indians to thank if/when they call the name of Arizona State first baseman Spencer Torkelson, Georgia right-hander Emerson Hancock, Vanderbilt third baseman Austin Martin or whoever has the honor of becoming next June's first selection in the MLB Draft.

It ain't quite Colavito-for-Kuenn. But it's a trade-off, all the same.