Tigers right-hander Buck Farmer didn't know he was getting a new role Wednesday night, but he learned when the usual closer, Joe Jimenez, began warming up during the bottom of the fifth inning.
Jimenez's entrance music blared through the speakers at a fan-free Comerica Park. Nobody was around to cheer for him. Yet there he was, trotting to the mound for the sixth inning for only the third time in four years.
A few pitches later, he gave up a home run on a 94 mph fastball to Kyle Schwarber.
"He's a little out of whack," manager Ron Gardenhire said.