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09/11/2002 7:12 pm ET
Another rough outing for Redman
Left-hander can't escape second inning in 8-2 loss
By Todd Lorenz / MLB.com
MINNEAPOLIS -- The only team that might want a new baseball stadium in Minnesota more than the Twins could be the Detroit Tigers.
After falling to the Twins 8-2 Wednesday afternoon, the Tigers have dropped nine of 10 games under the Metrodome roof this season, with
their only win coming on May 5 when former Tiger Jeff Weaver gutted out a 7-6 victory.
Following Weaver's departure, southpaw Mark Redman had been the Tigers most consistent pitcher. However, the former Twin entered
Wednesday with five losses in his last six starts, and the downward spiral continued.
"It was a tough day for him," Tigers manager Luis Pujols said. "Today he pitched behind on everybody. I don't think his command was very
good. It seemed like they hit some changeups that were down, but it seemed like they were looking for them."
The Twins hitters weren't just looking for them. They found them, too -- with the fat part of the bat.
Redman was tagged for eight runs and six hits over just 1 2/3 innings as the Tigers lost for the 18th time in their last 21 games. The loss is
Redman's third in a row and drops his record to 8-15 while boosting his ERA to 4.21.
After not allowing more than two earned runs over six consecutive starts from July 12 to Aug. 7, the left-hander has now given up 29 earned
runs in his last 37 innings, including 15 over his last 6 1/3.
So what's the reason for the sudden performance drop?
"There's a lot of reasons," Redman said. "It's September. (I've thrown) a lot of innings this year after throwing only 58 of them last year. Arm's
tired, body's tired. Mentally I'm just drawn out right now by the unfortunate way we've been playing baseball. It's taking a toll on me mentally.
It's just tough."
"He went through a stretch where he pitched a lot of close games for us," Pujols said. "It demanded a lot out of him, so maybe he's a little
tired now."
Even after Wednesday's short outing, Redman still has 203 innings under his belt this season. That, coupled with all of the young arms
recently called up from Triple-A, has Pujols and the Tigers considering shutting the southpaw down for the rest of the season.
"We're gonna talk to him Friday to see how he feels," Pujols said. "I want to be sure that he's healthy and all these innings are not getting to
him. He didn't pitch a lot of innings last year, so keeping him healthy is a priority right now."
While Redman isn't one to think of himself as a quitter, he did admit that this season has taken a lot out of him both mentally and physically.
After the game, he talked about feeling a "dead arm" and said he would go along with whatever he and the team think is the best course of
action.
"If I know I can go out there and pitch competitively and not be mentally worn down, I'd like to take the ball," he said. "It's just that right now I'm
worn out. I don't want to give up, but if that's the decision that management, the front office and I make then you know it's going to be for the
reason not to get hurt.
And being hurt is something that Redman knows all too much about. After going 12-9 for the Twins in 2000 he made just 11 starts for the
Twins and Tigers last season because of a strained left triceps muscle.
"Why go out there and keep throwing when your arm's feeling dead and you're mentally just grinding it out?" Redman said. "Give the ball to
one of the young kids that's going to try to make this team next year. They know what I can do during the course of a season. So that is
something to be talked about. It might not be a bad decision."
Todd Lorenz is an editorial producer for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
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