Bullpen can't pick up strong Hardy in loss
DETROIT -- The Tigers probably wouldn't care to remember what their Tuesday night looked like. There was the loss of Jose Cabrera with a season-ending injury, and the bullpen giving up a two-out grand slam in the seventh. There was the offense struggling to put together timely rallies. Taken together, all three of
DETROIT -- The Tigers probably wouldn't care to remember what their Tuesday night looked like. There was the loss of
Before the injury and the grand slam,
Cabrera, at the plate for his second at-bat in the third inning, swung at a 1-1 pitch and was immediately in pain. He clutched his left arm and walked off the field and into the clubhouse, where he got an MRI. After the game, the Tigers announced that Cabrera sustained a ruptured left biceps tendon, and will undergo season-ending surgery. Cabrera was playing in his 12th straight game since coming off the disabled list on June 1 with a right hamstring strain.
"Hopefully we can somehow get through this thing and get him back playing," said manager Ron Gardenhire. "We'll see what happens."
Gardenhire said
The Tigers pushed across two runs in the fourth to claim a 2-1 lead.
That lead held until the seventh inning, when the Tigers turned to their bullpen. Louis Coleman loaded the bases, but managed to get two outs. Detroit would have preferred to bring in a lefty to face the left-handed
"We had it going pretty good," said Gardenhire. "We came in and walked some people and the game got away from us."
"He's the eighth-inning guy," said Gardenhire. "Understand that. I'm not going to [hurt] this kid. … I'm going to protect this young man. Tonight, we put a guy in there that was supposed to get through there, and he walked a couple guys."
Thanks to two errors in the bottom of the seventh, the Tigers did add two more runs. With two outs,
SOUND SMART
With Goodrum's double to lead off the bottom of the fifth, the Tigers now have 149 doubles on the season. That's good for the Major League lead. The Tigers have hit doubles in 62 of 68 games this season.
HE SAID IT
"You can have this argument all you want. We've tried this a couple times. If we have a lead, yes, I would think about that. We've talked about that. I've done that earlier. But how many appearances does he already have where he goes multiple innings? You can't do that to this young man." -- Gardenhire, on not using Jimenez
UP NEXT
The Tigers continue their three-game series against the division-rival Twins on Wednesday at 7:10 p.m. ET at Comerica Park. Matthew Boyd (4-4, 3.20 ERA) will take the mound for Detroit. Boyd struggled to find the strike zone in his start against the Twins on May 22, as he walked four batters over four innings. Minnesota will start
Tyler Fenwick is a reporter for MLB.com based in Detroit.