Kelly gets in some work against O's

DETROIT -- A day after recording the first RBI and extra-base hit of his career, third baseman Nick Castellanos was on the bench in favor of utility man Don Kelly on Saturday.

Manager Brad Ausmus' reasoning was pretty simple.

"It was more about getting Kelly into the game," Ausmus said. "You don't want guys on the bench for too long of a period of time or you can't count on them in a big situation. They have to get some at-bats. Nick didn't need a day off, but Kelly needed a day on."

The Tigers were off on Tuesday and had a rainout on Thursday. With two more off-days scheduled next week, Ausmus wants to get the role players in where he can.

"With all these off-days and the rainout, it could end up being that guys don't play for two weeks if you don't find them a spot to put them in," he said. "It's unfair to them to ask them two weeks into the start of the season to perform."

Kelly went 3-for-4 with an RBI triple in the Tigers' 7-6 win.