Woeful Tigers can't buy a win

The Baltimore Orioles are 6-1. The Detroit Tigers are 0-7.

Baseball is upside down.

It will change, won't it? The Tigers will win a game soon, right? The Orioles will lose a few?

These are just early-season aberrations that you see in sports every now and then. A team that's supposed to be good is horrible until it gets its bearings and then . . . reverses itself?

"First and foremost, it starts with us," said Tigers starter Kenny Rogers, who dropped to 0-2 with a 3.38 ERA following yesterday's 5-0 loss to the Red Sox. "If we don't go out there and pitch to our capabilities, the offense and defense can't play up to their capabilities.

"We're a good team, but we need certain things to go right. It's frustrating in all aspects because we understand we're a good team.

"Let's not kid ourselves - right now we're the worst team in baseball. And it's because of the way we're playing in all areas.

"We can keep talking about how good we are, but we haven't shown anything yet. We're not one of the better teams in the game. Nobody is going to feel sorry for us. Nobody is going to give us anything.

"Our intensity level has to improve. Every aspect of our game has to improve. It's frustrating to go through this when we know we're capable of more."

The Tigers were captivated by the pregame ceremonies at Fenway. They watched intently as the Red Sox received their 2007 championship rings. They were all eyes and ears when Bill Buckner came onto the field to throw out the first pitch.

After that, Placido Polanco committed an error for the first time in 186 games (911 chances), when he relayed Brandon Inge's cutoff throw from center past third baseman Miguel Cabrera and into the Tiger dugout. Manny Ramírez, who had hit the ball to the triangle, wound up scoring on the triple-and-error play.

Then the very high-priced Cabrera butchered a Julio Lugo routine grounder. Tiger hitters were sliced and diced by Daisuke Matsuzaka, and while it's true that Dice-K pitched a beauty, you wouldn't think this All-World lineup would be held scoreless at any time by anyone.

In a manager survey we did before the season, Jim Leyland was generally considered the best skipper in baseball. Yet not even Leyland can find a magic potion to remedy seven straight losses. It's hard when you don't have much of a bullpen, when your starting pitchers aren't living up to their billing, when your staff ERA is 5.20.

When the Tigers made the Cabrera deal with the Marlins, they believed they had acquired the next long-range superstar, and they tacked on an eight-year contract extension worth $153.3 million. You could see the weight of the world on Cabrera as general manager Dave Dombrowski went by him and patted him on the back. Cabrera is 2 for 20.

The Tigers were praised as the team to beat. The Cleveland Indians were told to beware in the AL Central. But right now those predictions are off base.

"You just believe that it will start at some point," said Leyland of his offense, which is hitting .234 with 4 homers and 15 runs. "You don't sit there saying, 'Well, this is the inning.'

"You sure do sit there and say that this club will hit for sure. We didn't have much going [against Matsuzaka]. We had one shot when we loaded the bases.

"We haven't put any pressure offensively at all. Putting guys on, moving guys, we haven't had much of that at all."

Is it as simple as needing their catalyst, Curtis Granderson, in the lineup? Granderson is out with a broken hand, though he's making progress and hopes he can get back soon. But even Granderson isn't anointing himself the savior.

"When you look at the guys who have been in the leadoff spot for us - Edgar Renteria, Clete [Thomas], and Pudge [Rodriguez] - I mean, could I have hit better than Clete [.467]? Probably not," said Granderson. "Our guys have done a good job in the leadoff spot.

"Brandon Inge has played very well in center field. It's been frustrating for sure not to be in there and helping my teammates, but the guys who have taken my place have done very well.

"I think our team is going to hit and I think we're going to be a very good team before this is over. But right now nobody likes to be 0-7, and we're doing everything we can to come out if it."

While Leyland has used words like "embarrassed" and "frustrated," he was tempered yesterday as he sat in his office.

Asked if he were angered by the poor start, he said, "I'm not angry. I'd be angry if people weren't trying. We're trying, we're just not doing anything. I think you get angry if people are going through the motions. We're trying. We're probably trying too hard at this point.

"There's no special remedy for this. Everybody thinks there is. When something like this happens, you do what every team in baseball does. You look at film. You hit a little extra. You prepare for the pitchers. Take extra BP. Look at the film. Look at last year's film. There's no secret formula for coming out of it."

Leyland also denied that high expectations have resulted in crippling pressure.

"You need to ask the players," he said. "I've always believed that expectations are good. When you have a lot of expectations, that means you've got a good team, and we've got a good team. So if it's weighing on them, you need to ask them, because it's not weighing on me."

There is a sense that every Tiger feels accountable.

Rogers stood before reporters and was extremely thoughtful about taking responsibility for his performance (4 2/3 innings, 8 hits, 3 runs), blaming himself for not setting the right tone for his team.

"I wasn't good enough to overcome the mistakes that I made and allow my teammates to relax and swing the bats like they're capable of," he said. "Without a doubt, the place to point fingers is at the starting pitcher, and I didn't do a very good job of giving us a chance to win today.

"I've got to go deeper in the game. I pitched way too tentatively. My pitch count was up. All of those things combined aren't conducive to what we needed."

Rogers wanted to be the one to change the team's fortunes.

"Every starting pitcher that goes out there wants to be the guy who turns it around," he said.

It's tough now. The world is upside down.

And the Tigers have no answers on how to turn it around.

Nick Cafardo can be reached at cafardo@globe.com