Oblique injury to send Carpenter to DL

DETROIT -- The Tigers' injury woes grew again on Thursday, when third baseman Jeimer Candelario and starter Ryan Carpenter exited their series finale against the Angels at Comerica Park within minutes of each other.
While Candelario is day to day with a left hand contusion, he said after the Tigers' 6-2 win that he hopes to play in Friday's series opener against the Blue Jays. Carpenter will be placed on the 10-day disabled list with a right oblique strain. The injury will probably keep him out for two to three weeks, according to manager Ron Gardenhire.
The Tigers will make a corresponding move to fill Carpenter's roster spot on Friday, Gardenhire said. They could use the opening to bring back Miguel Cabrera, who's scheduled to take batting practice, run the bases and take ground balls Friday afternoon in hopes of being cleared to return from his right hamstring strain. However, the Tigers could opt for another pitcher to ease the workload on a taxed bullpen.
With all the injuries the Tigers have endured, reliever Zac Reininger is the only pitcher at Triple-A Toledo who's currently on the 40-man roster.

As Gardenhire said Thursday before the latest injuries, "We're a little beat up."
Candelario left at the start of the fifth inning after taking a pitch off his left hand a half-inning prior. Candelario had just returned last weekend from a DL stint caused by tendinitis in his wrist on the same hand. He'd been feeling good after getting treatment and finding a strengthening routine, but he had no preparation for Andrew Heaney's inside sinker with one out in the fourth.

"It was scary when it hit me," Candelario said. "I said, 'Oh my God.' It was scary, but thank God nothing was bad. Like I said, I'll come tomorrow and expect to play a ballgame."
Candelario stayed in to run at first base after a lengthy talk with head athletic trainer Doug Teter, but he did not take the field for the next inning. Ronny Rodriguez, who made his Major League debut at second base, moved over to third, with Dixon Machado entering the game at second.
Carpenter, meanwhile, was rolling through a solid start until Josè Briceño homered leading off the fifth. While Briceno rounded the bases, Carpenter was hunched over between the mound and home plate. Assistant athletic trainer Matt Rankin tended to him, and Carpenter eventually left the game.
The Tigers were already shorthanded Thursday with José Iglesias and Leonys Martin out. Iglesias could be out several days after leaving Wednesday's 6-1 win with a right hip contusion suffered on a slide into home plate. Martin, who spent time on the DL with a strained left hamstring, was sidelined after receiving a cortisone injection and having fluid drained from the same leg.
Carpenter, meanwhile, was filling in for Francisco Liriano, who went on the 10-day DL earlier this week with a right hamstring strain. Jordan Zimmermann is also sidelined following a right shoulder impingement as he awaits his second rehab start for Toledo.

The injury bug also hit the umpiring crew, as plate umpire Marty Foster took a Pete Kozma foul ball off his mask in the third inning. He stayed in the game a few more innings following a lengthy discussion with crew chief Greg Gibson and Teter, but finally left after the fifth. Gibson, who began the game as the second-base umpire, moved behind the plate as part of a three-man crew.