Arlington, Texas — If you didn’t know about the Tigers’ rash of injuries, you might have thought the lineup card manager Ron Gardenhire presented Wednesday was from a spring training game in Port St. Lucie — you know, one of those long bus trips veteran players usually avoid.
Nick Castellanos (swollen knee) was available to pinch-hit only, same for Victor Martinez, who had started every game on this seven-game trip. Miguel Cabrera (hamstring) and Leonys Martin (hamstring) are on the disabled list. Second baseman Dixon Machado was given a day off.
So the lineup card included recent Triple-A call-ups Mikie Mahtook, Pete Kozma and Grayson Greiner, as well as utility man Niko Goodrum.