Lyles saves bullpen but allows 3 HRs in loss

July 22nd, 2021

DETROIT -- The Rangers extended their losing streak to eight games and six straight out of the All-Star break following a 4-2 loss to the Tigers at Comerica Park on Wednesday night. 

-- who trails only teammate Mike Foltynewicz for the most home runs allowed in MLB -- gave up three of them. Lyles has allowed seven home runs in two starts since the All-Star break, bringing his season total to 24.

“I didn't stay on the outer-thirds and inner-thirds of the plate,” Lyles said of his outing. “The mistakes were [getting hit] over the fence again this outing. I'm OK with the seven innings, but I just need to stay away from the long ball. Hopefully I can figure it out and the seven innings can turn into one- or two-run ball.”

The long ball accounted for all of the Tigers’ runs. The Rangers’ veteran right-hander has had a roller-coaster season, showing flashes of potential, but has struggled mightily coming out of the All-Star break.

In each of his last four starts before the break, Lyles had one- or two-run outings. Since then, he’s given up six runs in a loss to Toronto and four runs against Detroit.

Lyles said if there was a one-size-fits-all fix for letting up home runs, nobody would give one up again. But he’s felt like it’s been more location and lack of consistency on his part that have contributed to the abundance of homers.

“I'm not sure [what happened since the break],” Lyles said. “I'll see if we can get some guys to look into it and see what's leading to these outings in these past two starts. I think there's a couple more mistakes being made these last two outings for sure.

“That Toronto lineup a handful of days ago, they got a lot of boppers and made me pay for them. Tonight, I just missed up and paid for it a couple times. I'm not sure how to answer that, but I'll try to find one.”

While Lyles wasn’t happy with his outing, manager Chris Woodward was more complimentary of how he handled the situation. He felt like the Tigers were not consistently hitting the ball hard, and only did so when Lyles made a mistake.

“I thought he kept us in the game the whole time,” Woodward said. “He went back out and saved our bullpen. Overall, I actually liked the way the ball came out of his hand. For him, maybe the command wasn't as good or as sharp as you'd like. Stuff like that. But he's working at a quick pace, didn't get hit hard just outside of those three homers and didn't really get a lot of guys off the barrel.”

Outfielder had a good night on both sides of the ball, driving in one of the Rangers’ two runs with an RBI double in the top of the fourth inning. Starting in left field, he also had a 7-2 putout as Jeimer Candelario tried to go second to home on a Harold Castro single. Dahl’s throw ended the Tigers' threat in the sixth inning.

Woodward said he felt like the offense had chances to get ahead of the Tigers and instead went just 1-for-7 with runners in scoring position.

“I thought we could have done a better job [at the plate],” Woodward said. “We’ve got to hit better than we hit today. We had an opportunity in the second inning [with a runner on second and no outs] I felt like we kind of let slip. We had a chance to get the lead right there. We’ve got to find a way to cash those in.”