Reed looks back on eventful callup day

CLEVELAND -- Evan Reed was getting a pot of coffee ready on Sunday morning in his apartment at Toledo when he noticed he had two voicemails and a text message. All were from Mud Hens manager Phil Nevin.

"He said, 'I hope you've got your truck ready, because you're driving to Cleveland,'" Reed recalled.

The Tigers had just put lefty reliever Darin Downs on the 15-day disabled list and recalled Reed. He noticed that message just before 11 a.m. ET. The game in Cleveland started at 1:05 p.m.

Reed didn't have to be there at first pitch to be eligible. Still, he had to haul it down the Ohio Turnpike. As quickly as he could, he readied a bag, threw his equipment in his truck and headed out.

"I went as fast as I legally could drive," he said diplomatically.

After driving around the stadium to try to find the players' parking lot, Reed finally arrived in the clubhouse by the end of the first inning. He usually tries to play catch before every game, but there was no chance of that.

If he was simply a depth reliever, it wouldn't matter anyway. But when manager Jim Leyland went to his bullpen for the seventh inning with a three-run deficit, he turned to Reed, whose scoreless inning set up Detroit's comeback in the eighth.

Had the Tigers scored one more run in the eighth, Reed would have been eligible for the win in a game for which he didn't see the first pitch. It would have been quite a cap to a crazy day.

"I wouldn't call it crazy," he said. "I would call it awesome."

And while the Tigers prepared to get out of town on Monday night, Reed was readying to drive back to Toledo to pick up his gear for the next series back in Detroit.