The drought continued for Spencer Turnbull on Tuesday night. The Madison Central High alum, a rookie right-hander for Detroit, took another loss as his Tigers fell to visiting Cleveland 10-1. Turnbull has gone 12 straight starts without a win, his last coming three months ago on May 31. His record at that time was 3-4, with a 2.84 ERA. His record now is 3-13, which, when you consider that his ERA is still a respectable 4.18, says a lot about how bad the Tigers are this year. In short: Really bad. Tuesday’s loss dropped Ron Gardenhire’s club to 39-90 overall and 17-44 at home, both worst in MLB. They’re 40 games behind first-place Minnesota in the American League Central. The second-place Indians beat the Tigers for the 13th time in 14 games this season. Turnbull did not pitch well: four runs, including a two-run first-inning homer by Jason Kipnis, in five innings. “I don’t feel like I missed by much, but they did real damage on a couple swings,” Turnbull said in an Associated Press story. His teammates barely put up a fight, mustering three hits. All Turnbull can do is turn the page and look forward to his next scheduled start on Sunday. Who does he get? The Twins.
About The Author
Mike Christensen
Freelance writer Mike Christensen was a newspaper sportswriter for 30 years, including 26 at the Daily News and The Clarion-Ledger in Jackson, and is author of the book "Of Mudcat, Boo, The Rope and Oil Can." He covered small college and minor league baseball, including the Jackson Mets, Generals, DiamondKats, Senators and Mississippi Braves, among other duties in his newspaper days. A former youth league second baseman, he is a longtime Atlanta Braves fan and collector of baseball books and cards.