Cleveland 8, Detroit 1: Tigers' callups are little help
The September call-ups from Triple-A Toledo weren't much help as the Detroit Tigers lost for the 12th time in their last 14 games.
Left-handed pitcher Kyle Lobstein gave up six runs over 4 1/3 innings and the Tigers went on to lose, 8-1 to the Cleveland Indians on tonight at Comerica Park.
Lobstein gave up eight hits and two walks with two strikeouts in his first start for the Tigers since being activated from the 60-day disabled list.
"Not very good," Lobstein said of his performance. "Fell behind too many hitters and gave them too many good pitches to hit."
Lobstein, who had been sidelined since May 24 with a sore left shoulder, was 0-3 with a 5.86 ERA in six injury rehab starts in the minors between the Mud Hens and High-A Lakeland.
"His fastball that he was located inside started getting a little more inside or over the plate," catcher Bryan Holaday said of Lobstein's command later in the game. "That's part of what happens when you're coming back from injury….I don't know if fatigue set in or whatnot, but his command started struggling a little bit. But I thought he gave us a good effort and he competed out there."
As for what made Tomlin so good, Holaday said: "He got everybody out.
"Yeah, he just threw all his pitches for strikes and mixed it up and kept us off balance and had quick innings. He really never gave us a chance to really feel like we had him on his back. He just attacked us the whole game."
Dixon Machado, also called up from Toledo, was one of the few bright spots for the Tigers.
Machado started at shortstop for Jose Iglesias, who will miss at least two weeks after suffering a fractured right middle finger in Thursday's 15-7 loss to the Kansas City Royals.
A follow-up CT scan today revealed a non-displaced small chip fracture at the PIP joint on the finger, which Iglesias said hurt worse Friday than it did on Thursday. The club announced that Iglesias will be re-evaluated in two weeks.
Machado made a nice diving catch on a line drive by Jason Kipnis in the sixth and finished 1-for-3 with a run scored.
Machado led off the bottom of the sixth with a double to left. With two outs, he came home on an RBI single by Miguel Cabrera, cutting the deficit to 6-1. The double was Machado's first extra-base hit and second hit overall in the majors.
"Probably going to get quite a bit more playing time with Iglesias being out with a broken finger," Ausmus said of Machado.
Asked about the loss of Iglesias, Ausmsus said: "Well, he's an All-Star shortstop. You'd rather have him in there. At best, it was probably going to be a week anyway. After the CT scan, it's going to be at least two."
Lobstein allowed one hit over the first two innings. He gave up a leadoff walk in the third to Abraham Almonte, followed by a two-run home run to left by Jerry Sands. It was Sands' third home run of the season.
Sands hit a triple to left in the fifth and came home on Giovanny Urshela's single to center in the fifth, which gave the Indians a three-run lead.
With one out, Lobstein gave up back-to-back doubles to Francisco Lindor and Michael Brantley. Urshela scored on Brantley's double, giving the Indians a four-run cushion.
The Tigers intentionally walked Carlos Santana to load the bases, then brought in lefty Drew VerHagen to pitch to Yan Gomes.
VerHagen hit Gomes with a pitch on a 1-2 count to bring home Lindor. VerHagen also gave up a bases loaded walk to Almonte, pushing the Indians' lead to 6-0 in the fifth.
Right-handed pitcher Jeff Ferrell, also brought up from Toledo, gave up two runs on two hits and one walk over two innings with one strikeout.
Right-handed pitcher Jose Valdez, also called up from Toledo, allowed one hit with one strikeout over two innings of work.
Indians right-handed pitcher Josh Tomlin gave up a leadoff single to Anthony Gose, then retired the next 11 batters he faced until giving up a two-out walk to J.D. Martinez in the fourth inning
Tomlin allowed one run on four hits and one walk over nine innings with six strikeouts.
Contact George Sipple: gsipple@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @georgesipple. Download our free Tigers Xtra app on Apple and Android!
