The Detroit Tigers already have three outfielders on the injured list. Kerry Carpenter may have to join them.
The left-handed hitting slugger suffered an apparent hamstring injury in the Tigers’ 4-3, 10-inning home loss to Kansas City on Sunday. Detroit opens a three-game home series against San Diego on Monday night.
“Hopefully, it’s nothing. He’s a big part of our lineup,” ace pitcher Tarik Skubal said.
Detroit has been operating without Parker Meadows (arm; 60-day injured list), Manuel Margot (knee; 10-day IL) and Matt Vierling (shoulder, 10-day IL). That has forced manager A.J. Hinch to improvise, with infielders Zach McKinstry, Ryan Kreidler and even Javier Baez getting some time in the outfield.
The Tigers missed out on a chance to sweep the Royals in a four-game series. Kansas City tied the game in the eighth with the aid of an infield error.
“This was a winnable game,” Hinch said. “We put ourselves in position and probably could’ve tacked on and created a little more space. But they did a good job of battling back.”
Detroit right-hander Keider Montero (0-1, 9.00 ERA) will make his second start of the season. Montero was recalled from Triple-A Toledo last week as the Tigers decided to temporarily go with a six-man rotation.
Montero gave up five runs and eight hits in five innings in taking the 5-1 loss at Milwaukee on Wednesday. He struck out eight and walked one.
“He did some good things where he looked pretty sharp,” Hinch said. “And all of his pitches were working. And there were times he couldn’t keep the ball in the ballpark. This is an offensive ballpark, he made some mistakes and they made him pay.”
Montero faced the Padres once last season as a rookie, allowing five runs in 4 1/3 innings on Sept. 4 but didn’t figure in the decision as the Padres won 6-5 in 10 innings.
He will be opposed by San Diego right-hander Randy Vasquez (1-1, 1.74), who has limited each of his last two opponents to one earned run in five innings. Vasquez’s last outing came against the Chicago Cubs on Tuesday.
Vasquez pitches to contact — he has six more walks (14) than strikeouts (eight) in his four starts.
The Tigers will look to cool off Fernando Tatis Jr., who leads the Padres in runs scored (22), home runs (eight), RBIs (16), batting average (.358), triples (one), total hits (29), walks (12), on-base percentage (.436), total bases (56) and stolen bases (seven). Tatis scored all three runs, including a solo homer, in a 3-2 win over Houston on Sunday night.
San Diego is trying to survive a stretch in which three of its starting position players — second baseman Jake Cronenworth (ribs) and outfielders Jackson Merrill (hamstring) and Jason Heyward (knee) — are on the 10-day injured list.
It got worse on Sunday, as designated hitter Luis Arraez was injured in a collision at first base with Astros second baseman Mauricio Dubon. Arraez was carted off for further evaluation at Houston Methodist Hospital. He returned to the stadium after the game but did not speak to reporters on the advice of team medical staff.
Padres manager Mike Shildt said during an in-game interview that the club was “worried about the jaw, the stability of that.” The team said in a statement during the game that Arraez was “stable, conscious, responsive and able to move his extremities.”
After the game, Shildt said early indications were good on Arraez’s condition.
“Best-case scenario with Luis,” Shildt said. “Obviously, very scary. We think he’s for the most part out of the woods. Time will tell, but the initial testing is very favorable. No fractures of any sort. A little bit of laceration on his jawline, so we’re worried about his jaw, clearly his cervical region.
“We’ve been burned on testing before, so we’ll be cautiously optimistic. He did have a period (on the field) of where he wasn’t aware of where he was, so that’s clearly concerning. But everything’s coming back to him now, and his initial testing from a concussion standpoint is favorable. All things considered, it’s a blessing.”
–Field Level Media
