Gose sits amongst spate of strikeouts

DETROIT -- The good news for Anthony Gose is that his production hasn't plummeted from his torrid Spring Training, batting .333 (15-for-45). However, his strikeouts have flared up, leading manager Brad Ausmus to give him a break from the starting lineup on Saturday.

After sitting back-to-back games against lefty starters, Gose is 4-for-17 over his last four games. More to the point, he has struck out 10 times in that stretch, more than doubling his total for the season. He went 1-for-5 with a single and four strikeouts Friday night against Danny Salazar and Anthony Swarzak.

Rajai Davis started in center field Saturday and led off.

"He's just in a little bit of a funk right now," Ausmus said of Gose. "He's not swinging like he was a week ago. It doesn't hurt to give him a day to regroup and work on some things in the cage."

It's not a startling development. Even as Gose was tearing up the Grapefruit League last month, Ausmus warned Gose would have his stretches where he'd struggle, likely earning some starts for Davis against right-handers.

Gose batted .299 this spring (20-for-67) with five walks and 19 strikeouts. He's hanging in so far thanks to a .560 average on balls put in play. He has been retired just 11 times on contact.

He won't have it any easier Sunday against Cleveland's scheduled starter Carlos Carrasco, who has 18 strikeouts in just 11 1/3 innings this season. Gose will likely sit Monday at Minnesota against Twins lefty Tommy Milone.