Manager Ron Gardenhire knew the Detroit Tigers would take their lumps this season. What has been troubling to him lately is their sloppy play.Outfielders missing cutoff men. Pitchers failing to hold runners on properly. Infielders bobbling grounders. Batters swinging at pitchers out of the zone.The Tigers carry a three-game losing streak into a two-game series at Kansas City. Detroit left-hander Matthew Boyd will oppose right-hander Jacob Junis in the opener on Tuesday.Article continues below ...Gardenhire wants his team to play smarter and sharper.“We’ve got things to work on [url=http://www.piratesfanproshop.com/authentic-ivan-nova-jersey]http://www.piratesfanproshop.com/authentic-ivan-nova-jersey[/url] , a lot of things to work on,” he said. “We’re trying to work on it and we’re touching on it just about every time it happens. We make sure we talk to them about it. All those little things will eventually pay off down the road.”Francisco Liriano was originally scheduled to start Tuesday, but Gardenhire shuffled his rotation to accommodate ace Michael Fulmer.Liriano will make a start later in the week because Gardenhire wants Fulmer to pitch every fifth day. Fulmer, who will pitch Wednesday’s matinee, made his first start since the All-Star break on Friday after recovering from an oblique strain.“Our goal here is to keep Fulmer on his five days because he’s coming through this thing,” Gardenhire said. “So we’re just kind of adjusting. Frankie’s one of those guys who can adjust. He’s done it before and he’s a veteran. He doesn’t have too many worries about those things, so we’re going to adjust with him.”Boyd (8-11, 4.09 ERA) held the Chicago White Sox scoreless for six innings in his last start. He also collected a victory in his last visit to Kansas City, giving up two runs in six innings and striking out seven on July 25.Improved control has led to an uptick in Boyd’s effectiveness. In his last nine starts, Boyd has issued just seven walks while striking out 51.In 12 career starts against Kansas City, Boyd is 3-6 with a 6.40 ERA.Junis (6-12, 4.70) has gone winless in his last four starts, but he hasn’t allowed more than two earned runs in any of them.“It’s been encouraging to have some consistent starts in a row,” Junis told MLB.com. “I was slumping pretty hard, so to bounce back and have some strong ones since the All-Star break, it’s encouraging to finish this season strong.”In his last start at Tampa Bay on Wednesday [url=http://www.piratesfanproshop.com/authentic-jameson-taillon-jersey]http://www.piratesfanproshop.com/authentic-jameson-taillon-jersey[/url] , Junis pitched 5 2/3 innings and gave up four runs, but only two were earned.“It’s not encouraging, (because) I’ve got a good feeling about Jake, so I don’t need to be encouraged,” Royals manager Ned Yost told MLB.com. “This is what I expect out of Jake. I expect him to go out and make starts like this. I expect him to execute pitches and have a good slider and keep us in the game.”Junis has faced the Tigers more than any other team in his two-year career and consistently given them fits. He is 5-1 in six starts with a 3.44 ERA.The Royals have lost six of their last eight games. Throughout Enrique Hernandez's nine-pitch battle with Price, Machado appeared to be relaying signs and/or location to Hernandez through an exaggerated series of motions.As Price was coming set, Machado, leading off from second, would place his hands on his hips. Then, just before each pitch, Machado would begin a series of motions: touching his helmet with either his right or left hand, sometimes then touching or pulling thescript on his jersey afterward and other times grabbing or touching the thigh/groin area of his pants.As the at-bat unfolded, LeVangie remained in the dugout while Price fell behind Hernandez 2-1 and then 3-2 before鈥攆ollowing three foul balls鈥攖hrowing a 93 mph fastball that Hernandez swung through for strike three."Was it a little exaggerated? Yeah, maybe, but I saw the whole thing," LeVangie said of Machado's gyrations. "I had told [Boston manager] Alex [Cora] I wanted to go [to the mound] before the Puig at-bat because I wanted to talk about some things."But when a guy gets a big punchout in that situation and a coach comes out to take a visit...I didn't want to f--k with the momentum there because David got a huge strikeout."Plus [url=http://www.padresfanproshop.com/authentic-brad-hand-jersey]Brad Hand Jersey[/url] , catcher Christian Vazquez had taken a mound visit already in the inning, trotting out for a chat with Price after Machado's base hit to put two runners aboard with none out. LeVangie was worried about slowing Price after the lefty's good start to the game, so he stayed put.Then, there were two out and runners on first and second, and the score was 1-1.From second, Machado gestured again. Puig swung at the first pitch he saw, a 93 mph fastball, knocking an RBI single into center to give the Dodgers their first鈥攁nd only鈥攍ead of the series. It was Machado who scored."David makes a good pitch on Puig,"LeVangiesaid."He jams him. [Puig] gets a flare. Then I gotta go out. But I talked to him with some small things after that, and he got out of that inning."I had a clear point I wanted to [make] after that at-bat because I saw Manny the entire time. I knew what he was doing."Charles Krupa/Associated PressAngry with himself because he felt his decision to delay the visit cost the Red Sox, LeVangie went out after Puig's RBI single to talk with Price and Vazquez, clearly to discuss what was occurring behind Price at second base and to change signs."We had a conversation," LeVangie said. "I don't want to get into the depths of it, but I brought up exactly what you're talking about."I let it get in my way鈥攂ecause of the strikeout, I didn't go out there [earlier]. I was so pissed that I didn't."Price had not allowed a hit in the first three innings of Game 2, and after he escaped the fourth [url=http://www.padresfanproshop.com/authentic-chase-headley-jersey]http://www.padresfanproshop.com/authentic-chase-headley-jersey[/url] , he threw two more hitless frames. While it is unclear whether Price knew what was occurring behind him during the Hernandez and Puig at-bats in the fourth, LeVangie was doing his best to properly time his interruption."I just told him, 'Hear me out. I know this is not the right time, but hear me out,'" LeVangie said.Cora declined comment to B/R on Thursday at Dodger Stadium when asked about the dugout conversation with LeVangie in the moment and for his take on the episode overall."I don't have a take," Cora said following an off-day media briefing.Vazquez, Price and Machado were not available for comment because neither team worked out at Dodger Stadium following all-day travel.Elise Amendola/Associated PressStealing signs has been around practically since baseball was invented鈥攐r, as MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred said Wednesday in Boston, "It's been a part of our game since Lassie was a puppy."It's become a hot topic this October because of various accusations of video shenanigans in the digital age that would violate baseball rules if true and because so much video scouting leaves pitchers vulnerable to tipping their pitches and offering hitters strong clues as to what is coming. Boston closer Craig Kimbrel has had a rough October stretchbecause of the latter.Machado, meanwhile, has been in the headlines after being called a "dirty player" by Milwaukee Brewers outfielder Christian Yelich during the NLCS and after he told Fox Sports' Ken Rosenthal that hustling isn't "my cup of tea" and that he is not "Johnny Hustle" after being called out for not running hard on various plays this season.Being caught apparently relaying signs to Dodgers hitters from second base is nowhere close to the dirty-player charges, LeVangie emphasized."Oh, it's clean," the pitching coach said. "It's baseball. If you're not hiding your stuff with a runner on second base and you're giving them a free view, that's on you, the pitcher and the catcher. It's up to the pitcher and catcher to manage that and to us to oversee it and make sure we're going about it the right way."We see this all the time. Not just him [url=http://www.padresfanproshop.com/authentic-tyson-ross-jersey]Tyson Ross Jersey[/url] , with everyone. We are very respectful of all this, and it's a big part of who we are and what we try to manage. As far as our pitching staff, we want to make sure we control those guys at second base and [that] they're not stealing our signs. We're changing our signs constantly, every pitch. Typically, every one of our pitchers will change every pitch."If you're wondering why the average time of a postseason game is stretching to nearly four hours, this is one small example. You can never be too careful.From second base the other night, though, because Machado was almost flamboyant in what he appeared to be doing, it didn't take a professional detective to sniff out that one.Asked whether he had seen anything as obvious recently, LeVangie chuckled and said "yes.""I've seen worse in Little League a few years ago," he said. "It was a Little League World Series game I saw on television. It was extremely obvious." Scott Miller covers Major League Baseball as a national columnist for Bleacher Report. Follow Scotton Twitterand talk baseball.