Price, Ausmus mix-up a reason for concern

DETROIT – When you peel back the thrilling walk-off win by the Detroit Tigers on Sunday, there's still reason for concern.

Normally, winning is the cure-all. It's easy to gloss over mistakes and just focus on the positive.

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But, not here. Not with this team.

To say the least, it's been a struggle for the Tigers in 2015. The four-time, reigning AL Central Division champs have hardly looked the part after that suitable-for-framing 11-2 start.

In fact, the Tigers (39-36) look to be going nowhere fast rather than an assured trip to the postseason.

And one of the biggest problems with this team that is loaded with talent, at times, is the lack of focus.

We saw it again on Sunday. This time, it was between the manager and his ace pitcher.

For sure, it was a much-needed win. The Tigers appeared to be heading to a listless 4-0 loss. But Victor Martinez tied it with a bases-clearing double in the eighth inning. James McCann won it in the bottom of the ninth with a walk-off home run, giving the Tigers a 5-4 victory over the lowly Chicago White Sox at Comerica Park.

But in the top of the seventh inning, we saw a bizarre situation unfold with TV cameras front and center, capturing the little-seen drama.

Tigers' David Price was nowhere to be found.

The lefty wasn't on the mound, not in the bathroom. The look on manager Brad Ausmus' face was, indeed, Price-less.

Despite his numbers -- four runs on six hits in six innings against the White Sox -- Price said he felt great. In fact, he said it was the best he felt all year.

Nonetheless, Price didn't pitch that well against the last-place White Sox.

"It was a miscommunication on everybody's part," said Price, who had five strikeouts and no walks. "I'll take the blame for that. It's fine with me. It's just miscommunication."

Price, who had thrown 99 pitches, thought his day was done. He took his uniform off and was into some arm exercises.

"Ver (Verlander) ran up and said, 'You're still in the game,'" he said. "I said, 'No, I'm not.' I have zero uniform on right now."

Price, in his eighth major league season, said that scenario had never played out before in his career. "No, it never has happened before," Price said. "It was miscommunication. You can put it on me. I'm fine with that. Write what you want to write. I don't care."

Price was trying to be nice. It just felt as if he really knew it wasn't his fault, but Ausmus' bad.

After all, it's the manager who decides who stays in or comes out. Clearly, Ausmus wasn't convincing of his decision to Price either way.

"The miscommunication as whether he was going back out there," Ausmus tried to explain. "I thought he was. He thought he was done. So that's the miscommunication."   

With former skipper Jim Leyland, pitchers always knew when they were out of the game because he would give them a customary handshake or pat on the backside to let them know their day was over.

Apparently, it isn't the case with Ausmus.

It would be different if it was the first offense, the first time the Tigers seemed not to be focused.

But we've seen players on this team play without focus way too often. There's was that bizarre play when Ian Kinsler had a sure out at first base in a game against the Oakland A's here. Instead, Kinsler threw home and didn't get an out. The A's would eventually cash in with grand slam.

There have been players picked off in non-running situations.

In Chicago, J.D. Martinez forgot the number of outs and kept running from first base with one out and popup. He was doubled up at first.

There was also that Reds game when the Tigers were looking for Yoenis Cespedes to go out to left field. At least, he had a good reason for being missing. Nature called.

In this case, the manager wasn't focused on the game at hand. That should never happen. There are plenty of things a manager can't control. This isn't one of them.

It worked out because the Tigers won in dramatic fashion. Had they lost, it would be a blunder few would forget.