Tigers’ Woes Continue
The Tigers’ struggles continued last night, with a 4-2 loss to the Pirates. Fill-in starter Robbie Ray was charged with all four Pittsburgh runs before leaving in the sixth inning.
Detroit has lost seven of its last nine games. It’s the worst nine-game stretch the team has endured since 2008. Kansas City also lost, so the Tigers continue to trail the Royals by a half-game in the American League Central Division.
The Tigers play the Pirates again tonight, but the scene shifts to Detroit. Buck Farmer has been brought up from Double-A Erie to make a fill-in start. Farmer was promoted from Single-A West Michigan just a couple of weeks ago. Vance Worley will counter for Pittsburgh. Hear the first pitch at 7:08 on AM 1400, WCCY.
An MRI performed yesterday on Justin Verlander’s stiff shoulder showed no significant damage. The stiffness has been diagnosed as inflammation. Manager Brad Ausmus said Verlander may miss his next turn in the rotation, but hopefully can avoid joining Anibal Sanchez and Joakim Soria on the disabled list.
The Tigers continued to shuffle the bullpen yesterday. Justin Miller was sent down to Toledo. Blaine Hardy was brought back.
Brewers Blanked at Wrigley
The Brewers were shut out 3-0 by the Cubs last night. Milwaukee batters collected only six hits off Chicago starter Kyle Hendricks, who pitched into the eighth inning.
The Brewers continue that set against the Cubs in Chicago tonight. Kyle Lohse will start against Tsuyoshi Wada.
Pittsburgh won, and Saint Louis lost, so Milwaukee’s lead in the National League Central Division is now one-and-a-half games over the Pirates, and three games over the Cardinals.
Twilight League Semis Open
– Regular-season champion BlueSky Health opened the Twilight League playoffs with a 9-5 victory over Wolverine-Orbit last night. That best-of-three series continues tomorrow night at the Wolverine field.
– The Stanton Wildcats scored eight runs in the first inning, but Mosquito Inn responded with 12 in the fourth. Their game was eventually suspended because of darkness, with the score tied at 17. They’ll finish the contest tomorrow night at 6:00 at the Toivola field, then play game two of the series.
Monroe Returning to Pistons
After testing the waters as a restricted free agent, Greg Monroe has decided to play for the Pistons again this season. Monroe has accepted Detroit’s qualifying offer. He’ll make five-and-a-half million dollars, and become an unrestricted free agent next summer.
Ansah Returns to Lions’ Practice
Detroit Lions’ defensive end Ziggy Ansah returned to the practice field last night. Ansah has been recovering from shoulder surgery. Coach Jim Caldwell says Ansah will not play in Friday night’s exhibition against the Raiders.
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