His head was down when reporters entered the Tigers' clubhouse on Saturday.

That was to be expected.

After all, Rick Porcello had just been lit up for nine runs in 2/3 inning of a 10-0 loss to the Los Angeles Angels.

His ERA more than doubled in the process, going from 5.11 to 11.08.

But when it came time to talk, he did so, discussing the nightmare he'd just been through.

"I struggled a little bit with my command, but I didn't think it was all that bad," Porcello said.

Pitchers can't control where the ball goes on the ground after it's hit, though — and everything before Mike Trout's grand slam that ended Porcello's day somehow found a hole.

"I don't know what else to tell you other than it wasn't in the cards for me today," Porcello said.

Catcher Alex Avila, meanwhile, couldn't believe what he was seeing with what he called all "the squibblers and broken bats."

Porcello had no time to believe it or not believe it. He could only try to make the next pitch better.

"I can't stand there on the mound and think about luck," he said. "I need to make pitches.

"I did my best to dig deep, especially when I began to feel the pressure, but it just didn't happen for me."

What goes around comes around for pitchers, though. There've been times Porcello hasn't thrown as well as he felt he threw on Saturday, only to have it look like he pitched much better.

"All pitchers have had games in which balls hit hard have been right at guys," he said. "You walk away from those games after seven innings feeling pretty good even though you didn't throw the ball all that well.

"Today I felt I threw the ball fine. As I said, it just wasn't in the cards for me."