DETROIT -- The Tigers, who lost four players to the disabled list during their recent road trip, might have absorbed another key injury to start their homestand. Nicholas Castellanos left the second game of Saturday's doubleheader with a bruised left pinkie finger after taking a Felix Hernandez pitch off his hand in the first inning of Detroit's 9-5 loss in the nightcap.
Tigers bench coach Steve Liddle said X-rays were negative on the outfielder, who is listed as day to day.
Castellanos fractured a bone in the same finger late in the 2016 season, costing him a month and a half. This injury initially didn't appear to be as serious, pending X-rays, but with Jose Cabrera and Leonys Martin already out, any games Castellanos misses further hampers Detroit's lineup.
Though Hernandez hit Castellanos with an offspeed pitch, it struck the Tigers' offensive leader in the right spot, even as he tried to turn away. Castellanos was in obvious pain as Tigers head athletic trainer Doug Teter came out of the dugout to examine him, but stayed in the game to run and then play right field in the second.
Victor Reyes pinch-hit for Castellanos in the bottom of the second and stayed in the game in right. The Tigers announced the injury as a left fifth finger contusion.
Castellanos entered Saturday's second game batting .326 with three home runs and 23 RBIs. He has been dealing with other ailments for the past week, sitting out a game in Kansas City with the flu, then missing Wednesday's series finale in Texas after taking a pitch off his left knee in the previous game.