BALTIMORE -- Jeimer Candelario was back in the Tigers lineup for Friday's series-opening, 6-0 loss against the Orioles after missing Thursday's series finale in Pittsburgh with a sore left wrist. But the sweet-swinging third baseman's return came with the condition that he wear a wrist guard when he runs the bases.
Candelario took a hit-by-pitch from Chris Tillman in the opening inning, though not off the wrist. He grounded out in the third inning before striking out in the sixth and popping out in the ninth.
While Candelario's wrist injury became apparent while he was batting, particularly when he swings right-handed, one of the causes the Tigers suspect for the injury is his sliding technique. When he slides head-first into a base, he uses his left hand and wrist to brace for impact.
"When he slides, he puts his hand down," manager Ron Gardenhire said. "So now we're getting him a wrist guard, making him wear that. We need to protect the hand. Maybe that'll help him a little bit."
With five doubles and two triples among his 20 hits in 54 at-bats since April 10, he has had a lot of baserunning to do over the last 2 1/2 weeks.
"I'm just using [the guard] to be careful," Candelario said. "I just want to be ready to play the whole season."
Though the wrist has been an issue at times in the past, it grew more painful in this recent stretch, to the point where he stepped out of the batter's box and shook his hand between pitches a couple of times in Pittsburgh.
"Just [batting] right-handed and when I slide," he said. "Left-handed [hitting], I'm good."
Candelario will not have to wear the wrist guard when he bats. Just to be sure, the Tigers had him at Camden Yards for early hitting on Friday, taking swings in the cage from both sides of the plate, with no obvious issue.
You can't handle the truth!
Though Gardenhire has always been a fan of Camden Yards, he has a special place in his heart for old Memorial Stadium, and for the movie "A Few Good Men". There's a little-known connection to it.
The 1992 film starring Tom Cruise and Jack Nicholson includes a scene where Cruise's character, Lt. Daniel Kaffee, was at home with a baseball game on television. The game being shown is an Orioles-Twins game from June 17, 1991, Gardenhire's first season on the Twins' coaching staff under then-manager Tom Kelly.
The Twins arrived in Baltimore for that game on a 15-game winning streak, but lost that night on a three-run Orioles comeback, capped by a game-winning double from Randy Milligan.
"When he's sitting in his house, on the TV it shows Randy Milligan getting that base hit that broke our 15-game win streak," Gardenhire said. "And that's what I remember about that ballpark: 15-game win streak and we got beat by Randy Milligan. I still have to watch it, because I love that movie."
Quick hits
• Fourteen Major League games have ended with a 1-0 score this season, compared with 29 for all of last season. The Tigers have been involved in four 1-0 games this season, losing three of them. According to baseball-reference.com, the record for 1-0 losses in a season is 10, shared by the 1914 Pirates, 1916 Cubs and 1967 Phillies. The 1914 Yankees and 1968 White Sox share the American League record with nine.
• Tigers general manager Al Avila and assistant GM David Chadd were in Gainesville, Fla., Thursday night to watch Auburn face Florida in an SEC matchup that featured two potential options for Detroit's top overall pick in June's MLB Draft. Florida's Brady Singer, who entered the season projected by some as the top Draft prospect, outpitched Auburn's Casey Mize, projected by many as Detroit's likely selection.