Ausmus after Game 2 loss: "If we have a lead in the eighth inning Sunday, we're going to have to find somebody"

After again watching his bullpen let the Orioles post a big eighth inning to cement a Division Series win, Tigers manager Brad Ausmus didn't know how he'd handle a lead going forward with his club one game away from being eliminated. For the second straight game, Joba Chamberlain and Joakim Soria simply couldn't record outs. Handed a three-run lead in the eighth, the late-inning duo combined to surrender four runs on three hits and a walk in their combined one inning of work. In Game 1 a night earlier, Chamberlain and Soria allowed six runs (five earned) in just one-third of an inning during an eight-run Orioles eighth. That turned a one-run contest into a 12-3 Baltimore win. The latest unravel turned a 6-3 advantage into a 7-6 Tigers loss. "It's certainly real tough to swallow. When you have a three-run lead going into the last couple innings, you feel like you should get the job done," Ausmus said. "But we didn't and there's nothing we can do about it. So we'll look forward to Game 3." So does Ausmus have any confidence that his bullpen can close out a contest if a starter is removed? Can he turn to Chamberlain (108.00 ERA in the series) and Soria (45.00 ERA in the series) again if Game 3 is close on Sunday? "I don't know that I necessarily have an answer for that, but if we have a lead in the eighth inning Sunday, we're going to have to find somebody," Ausmus said. One option is right-hander Al Alburquerque, who hasn't appeared in the series, but had a 2.51 ERA with 63 strikeouts in 57 1/3 innings in 72 regular season appearances. Ausmus explained why he hadn't yet turned to Alburquerque ahead of the struggling duo. "Usually when we use Alby, it's earlier in the game, sixth inning, occasionally seventh inning," Ausmus said. "But we had (Anibal Sanchez) today." Another question for Ausmus was why the Tigers couldn't stick with Sanchez longer. Sanchez went 8-5 with a 3.43 ERA in 22 games (21 starts) during the regular season. But he pitched just one inning in relief from Aug. 8 on because of a pectoral injury that cost him seven weeks. In Game 2, Sanchez struck out two in two scoreless, hitless innings of work after starter Justin Verlander was removed with a man on and none out in the sixth. Ausmus said continuing with Sanchez wasn't an option after 30 pitches. "No, we thought 35 was pushing it. So sending him back out would've been tough," Ausmus said. "It's more about him not really being stretched out. He was hurt. What was he out? (Seven) weeks? And he threw one inning, one simulated game. Asking him to throw really anything more than 30 pitches is a stretch." Verlander lasted just five innings in the loss, allowing three runs on six hits while striking out four and walking one. He threw 101 pitches. But finding the right place for Sanchez and Verlander's status led to the pitching change. "Well, we talked to (Verlander) after he came out the previous inning, and he said he was running low," Ausmus said. "So I didn't want to bring Sanchy in in the middle of a briar patch with the bases packed. So I just decided before the inning started that if the leadoff hitter got on - really if any hitter got on during the course of the inning ... what we had with Sanchez with wanting to bring him in, but not wanting to bring him in in a sticky situation, that was why we made the move at that point." Center fielder Rajai Davis (groin/abdominal injury) again didn't stay in for the whole game, and this time he was removed in the fourth after struggling to run to first after a single. Ausmus had nothing definitive on Davis' status for Sunday. "He said it tightened up. After he hit that ball down the line, just coming out of the box, it tightened up on him," Ausmus said. "I'm assuming it's something he did with the first move. But we'll continue to treat him and hope he can play on Sunday." And now the Tigers head home in an unenviable position, down 2-0 to the Orioles with no margin for error if they want to avoid an early exit from the playoffs. "Talking to the team before the series even started, we said, 'Regardless of what happens today, win or lose, you put it behind you. There's nothing you can do about it. You just focus on the game at hand,' " Ausmus said. "We're 0-2, we understand it. But it doesn't really affect us playing Game 3, and if you can win Game 3, then you look to Game 4. But you don't look past the day in front of you."