Detroit ? The Big Hurt has been a big bust in the AL championship series.

Same with Nick Swisher and Marco Scutaro.

Frank Thomas and Swisher were the top home-run hitters for the Oakland Athletics this season. Against the Detroit Tigers this series, they’ve been awful: 0-for-17.

Thomas is 0-for-10 with five strikeouts and a walk, while Swisher is 0-for-7 with five strikeouts and four walks. That lack of production is a key reason the A’s are in a 3-0 hole and facing elimination in the best-of-seven series after Friday’s 3-0 loss.

“They have shut us down, no excuses about it,” Thomas said. “You can’t do much with two hits. … I’m shocked today.”

The two had a blast competing all season long to see who would finish with a better home run total, with the 38-year-old Thomas topping the second-year major leaguer by a 39-35 count. Thomas drove in 114 runs to Swisher’s 95.

“If I look back at it, I got maybe a couple of pitches to hit,” Swisher said. “(They’re) just not missing.”

And then there’s Scutaro, the super sub who has played more than just reliable defense at shortstop in place of the injured Bobby Crosby. The 2004 AL Rookie of the Year went on the disabled list in late August with a lower back injury.

Scutaro is 1-for-11 in the ALCS after hitting four doubles in Oakland’s division series sweep of the Minnesota Twins, including two in the clincher that drove in four runs and tied an A’s postseason record. He has seven game-ending hits during his three-year tenure in Oakland.

The A’s never trailed in finishing off the Twins in three games. They’ve only led once in the ALCS, briefly during Wednesday’s Game 2 in Oakland.

Whether hard-throwing Justin Verlander or crafty left-hander Kenny Rogers, the Game 3 winner – it hasn’t mattered who Oakland faced. The A’s can’t come up with the necessary clutch hits.

“Sure, it’s surprising – because they’re good hitters,” A’s general manager Billy Beane said.