Farmer optioned to make room for Greene

MINNEAPOLIS -- Buck Farmer is headed back to the farm. Following the team's 9-5 loss to the Twins on Saturday, the Tigers optioned the righty back to to Triple-A Toledo, where he has spent most of the season.

The Tigers sent Farmer down to make room for Shane Greene, who will start Sunday's series finale at Target Field.

Farmer came on in relief of Alfredo Simon in the third inning Saturday with a runner on second. The inherited runner scored, but Farmer got out of the inning without further damage, and the Tigers scored four runs in the next two innings. However, he surrendered a towering, two-run homer into the third deck to Twins right fielder Torii Hunter in the sixth.

"[Farmer] was solid. He gave us some much-needed innings and really kind of kept us in," manager Brad Ausmus said. "The energy in the dugout was really good. We were chipping away, we felt like we had a chance to get back in the game, but then Torii's home run really kind of was the final nail, not the final nail, but it didn't help."

Greene, who began the season with the Tigers, will be making his 14th start in the Major Leagues this year. He's 4-6 with a 5.82 ERA in 68 innings with Detroit, but he's been solid at Toledo, going 1-1 with a 3.42 ERA since his demotion. Ausmus said Greene has been utilizing his changeup more.

"He's been working hard down there," Ausmus said Thursday. "No one wants to get sent down to Triple-A from the big leagues. I've never met anyone that's happy about that move."