DETROIT _ The Los Angeles Dodgers are the best team in baseball. The Detroit Tigers are not.
There are many reasons for this, many more than were accounted for Saturday afternoon at Comerica Park, but a brief glimpse into the big gap between the two teams came in the top of the seventh inning.
Neither team had scored in a pitchers' duel. Tigers starter Michael Fulmer was an out away from pitching seven scoreless innings when Curtis Granderson hit a seemingly harmless, sky-high pop-up into the sun at third base. But third base has been quite harmful for the Tigers' defense this season and Nick Castellanos lost the ball.
Two batters later, the Dodgers had the run they would need.
Adrian Gonzalez tagged Fulmer's third hit allowed for an RBI single into right field and the Dodgers added two more runs to give closer Kenley Jansen more than enough breathing room in a 3-0 win.
The Dodgers are 87-34. The Tigers are 53-68, falling to 16 games under the .500 mark for the first time since Sept. 28, 2005.
Fulmer was the hard-luck loser: He shook off the rust from his first start back on Monday in Texas and threw seven great innings, allowing just that unearned run. He walked two and struck out six.
The Tigers offense didn't threaten much, although they were given plenty of early opportunities by Dodgers lefty starter Hyun-Jin Ryu, who walked four batters in five innings.
The Tigers' best chance came in the bottom of the third inning. JaCoby Jones singled and Ian Kinsler and Justin Upton walked, loading the bases for Miguel Cabrera. Ryu struck out Cabrera swinging on three pitches.
The Dodgers walked five batters but none of those batters reached second base and Ross Stripling bridged the gap to a hard-throwing back of the Los Angeles bullpen, where Brandon Morrow set the Tigers down in order and Jansen did the same.
