Gardenhire: Tigers' inability to score will make me 'drink heavily'

Three games into the season, the Detroit Tigers have managed to score just a pair of runs, and that single two-run homer came in the 10th inning of Thursday's Opening Day game. It's enough to drive one to the bottle, as veteran skipper Ron Gardenhire attested to.

"When you guys leave the room I'm going to cry and tear the pictures off the wall," Gardenhire told Anthony Fenech of the Free Press in jest after his team's Saturday defeat against the Toronto Blue Jays. "I'm going to drink heavily."

Since Christin Stewart's go-ahead home run in extras, the Tigers have been shut out in 18 consecutive innings.

The Tigers, 1-2 to start the year, have collectively mustered 11 hits over 28 innings, failing to earn a single run against any of the Blue Jays starters thus far. Nicholas Castellanos owns four of his team's 11 hits, including a double and a triple. Collectively, in 92 at-bats, the Tigers have struck out 37 times to begin the season.

Last year, Detroit ranked 28th in baseball by wRC+, ahead of the Miami Marlins and San Francisco Giants. Offensively, the majority of the roster returned for the 2019 season.

"I have confidence in the guys," Gardenhire later added, according to Chris McCosky of The Detroit News. "We have good hitters in the lineup. These things happen. You just keep dealing with it. As I told them, just keep playing boys. This is a long, long season. We'll be fine."