San Diego — The end often comes suddenly, even for the great ones.
That was the case with Tigers reliever Francisco Rodriguez. The game’s fourth all-time saves leader, he posted 44 saves for the Tigers last year and, between 2013 and 2016, made 126 saves with a save percentage of over 90.
This year, though, was an unmitigated disaster from the start, going back to his sub-standard performance for Team Venezuela in the World Baseball Classic. And as it turned out, the grand slam home run he gave up to the Seattle Mariners’ Robinson Cano Thursday night was the final blow.