Ausmus On Boos In Blowout Loss: 'If I Was In The Stands, I'd Be Booing, Too'
By Ashley Dunkak
@AshleyDunkak
COMERICA PARK (CBS DETROIT) - The Detroit Tigers missed a big opportunity Saturday, just like they missed a big opportunity Friday.
Had the Tigers won Friday, they could have cut their "magic number" to one. Instead they lost, 11-4, to the last-place Minnesota Twins, and the Kansas City Royals won, cutting Detroit's division lead to one.
Had the Tigers won Saturday, they could have clinched the division, since the Royals lost later that night. Instead, the Tigers also fell, 12-3, and remained just one game ahead of Kansas City.
If Detroit wins Sunday, the team wins the division for a fourth straight season. The Tigers could win the division even if they lose Sunday, as long as the Royals also lose. If the Tigers lose and the Royals win, however, the teams would meet in Detroit for a tiebreaker Monday.
Going into this series, few expected that the Tigers would lead the Royals by only one game with one game remaining in the season.
"It's frustrating, for sure," Tigers manager Brad Ausmus said after the game. "Today was almost a carbon copy of yesterday – a couple defensive mistakes, we didn't pitch well, and you're in such a deep hole that it's tough to climb out.
"I wasn't concerned at all going into the game today that something like that would happen again," Ausmus added. "I am a little surprised by it, but again, we can't do anything about it now. We've got a game tomorrow that we've got to win – and I mean we've got to win."
With the importance of Sunday's game so obvious, Ausmus and catcher Alex Avila said nothing needs to be said within the team to raise the sense of urgency or galvanize the group.
"We're grown men here," Avila said. "Everybody knows the situation. It's not like, 'Hey, tomorrow's a big game.' Well, no s---."
In the late innings Saturday, with the Tigers laboring under another ugly deficit that only grew larger as the game went on, fans at Comerica Park showed their displeasure, some booing and others simply heading for the exits. Ausmus said he did not fault them.
"I understand why they're booing," Ausmus said. "We're in a situation where we can clinch a division and we gave up 20-something runs over the course of two games. If I was sitting in the stands, I'd be booing, too."
