The Detroit Tigers placed Alfredo Simon on the bereavement list prior to Wednesday's 3:35 PM EST start because he needed to travel to the Dominican Republic to visit his highly ill father. In the meantime, that stuck the Tigers in a tough situation as the starter could no longer pitch in the game.
Playing against the Oakland Athletics, Tigers manager Brad Ausmus decided to pitch relievers only en route to a 3-2 victory.
Alex Wilson got the start and went 3.0 innings, giving up just a walk, while earning a strikeout. He improved his ERA to 1.99.
Kyle Ryan, who came up from the Triple-A Toledo Mud Hens early this morning, went 3.0 innings and gave up one earned run on three hits and three walks. The winning pitcher threw 48 pitches and owns a 3.00 ERA.
Later in the game, Joakim Soria came on and got the save for Detroit. The closer is now 15-for-16 in save situations with a 1.27 ERA.
The Tigers were shut down until Oakland pitcher Scott Kazmir left the game with tightness in his left shoulder. He departed after the third inning and then the Tigers offense started to roll.
"I think it just started bothering him as the game went along," Oakland manager Bob Melvin. "You could tell he was a little uncomfortable after the first pitch when he was coming off the mound. His body language wasn't great so we didn't want to push him."
Detroit tallied nine hits and five walks on the day, but the only run came off the bat of Yoenis Cespedes. The Cuban launched a deep shot to left field that plated both Ian Kinsler and Miguel Cabrera. That homer gave Detroit a 3-0 lead and they used that as a cushion for victory.
"Even though I have a lot of affection for that team, I play for this team now and I want to win," Cespedes said through a translator. "I was confident I was going to do something, but not necessarily hit a home run."
"Any hitter is motivated when the guy ahead of him gets walked," said Ausmus. "It seems to work out when a team trades you he comes back and hits a home run."