Twice during the regular season, Detroit Tigers catcher Ivan Rodriguez went at least three games without a hit. It happened to the Tigers' leadoff man, center fielder Curtis Granderson, four times. Placido Polanco, the second baseman? He never went more than two games without a hit, though he flailed away for a few 2-for-13 stretches that took chunks out of his average.
In the cool of spring or the swelter of August, those developments pass like days on the calendar, because in the middle of the grind of a season -- 162 games, 180 days, an infinite number of adjustments and bits of advice sprinkled in -- there is no need to overanalyze. Here, in October, with the World Series on the line, overanalyzing is part of the package.
"Three games in the middle of the year, you don't even think about it," Tigers first baseman Sean Casey said. "But three games to start the World Series, it's an issue."
The Tigers had a bit of an issue heading into Wednesday night's Game 4, and it had nothing to do with the drizzle that fell here all day and evening, finally forcing a rainout. Three of their best hitters don't yet have a hit. To put it bluntly, turn to the most blunt man in the room.
"Right now in the lineup," Tigers Manager Jim Leyland said, "we have three guys that are 0 for 34 in combination. They're hitting in every third spot; there's only nine spots. So, basically, the key is to get them going."
Those three would be Rodriguez, the stalwart catcher who is a .304 hitter over 16 major league seasons; Granderson, the speedy man at the top of the lineup who strikes out too much but is expected to spark the offense nonetheless; and Polanco, the second baseman who is good enough that he was the MVP of the American League Championship Series and whose injury in August sent the Tigers into a tailspin.
"Those are important hitters for us," reliever Jason Grilli said. "There's a few guys we have to get going, no question about it."
In an effort to coax any offense from his free-swinging team -- one that averaged better than five runs a game during the season, but scored just five total in the first three games of the World Series -- Leyland juggled his lineup before Game 4, long before the game was postponed until Thursday night. There is no telling what such an adjustment does to players mentally, when they walk in the clubhouse and see changes -- for instance, in the case of Polanco, being moved from third to seventh. But Leyland, far from in panic mode, felt the changes were necessary. He even considered sitting players down, but decided against it.
"Every once in a while, you post the lineup, and it looks different, and everybody kind of looks back and takes it in," Leyland said. "And once in a while, you hope just something like that maybe shakes it up."
Granderson remained in the leadoff spot despite the fact that he is hitless in 13 at-bats, that he hasn't even drawn a walk, that he struck out four times. Polanco, inserted in the third spot during the ALCS when Casey went down with an injury, dropped to seventh. Carlos Guillen, who has been the Tigers' most impressive and consistent hitter all season -- not to mention in the series -- landed in the third spot. Casey moved from seventh to fifth, and Rodriguez stayed put in sixth.
More than their positions in the lineup, though, the Tigers believe they have to change their approach. They heard a great deal during the first two rounds of the playoffs -- when they rattled off seven straight wins -- about how they had shelved their aggressive approach for a more patient, laid-back attack that resulted in more walks and more tired pitchers. Now, though, several players say they find themselves thinking too much, not attacking the way they should.
Granderson, for one, credited the Cardinals' scouting, saying, "They know that right now, I'm not as aggressive as I want to be, so they're getting ahead" in the count.
And once strike one sails by, the Tigers are finding themselves in a hole.
"I just got to get back to being aggressive and trying not to miss that first strike, especially if it's a hittable strike," Granderson said. "It may be the best one in that at-bat. Once you get that first strike over, now you can go ahead and dance a little bit -- a little bit left, a little bit right, a little bit up, a little bit down."
Which kind of describes Detroit's approach at the plate, flailing away. The Tigers managed four hits in losing Game 1. They managed three hits in losing Game 3.
A team that hit .274 during the regular season hit .185 during the first three games against the Cardinals, who have received superior pitching from starters Anthony Reyes, Jeff Weaver and Chris Carpenter.
"You can see a guy who's scuffling, maybe trying to do too much," Cardinals reliever Josh Kinney said. "But I wouldn't say that's what they're trying to do. I think we've just done a pretty good job of pitching."
Which is likely true. Still, these weren't the three games before the all-star break, not a midweek swing through Cleveland. These were the first three games of the World Series, and it had the Tigers wondering about themselves.
"This team is an aggressive swinging team," Casey said. "That's why we're in the World Series. I think that's the thing: We have to realize what got us here, who we are, and just keep being who we are, not worrying about trying to get out of slumps."
