Tigers DH Gary Sheffield tore a tendon in his ring finger while sliding into second base in the eighth inning of Detroit’s 4-1 loss to the Royals on Thursday.
Until the swelling subsides, he won’t know for sure if he can play. He would have come out had his turn come up again in today’s game. “He would have not been able to hit if we came around to him in the ninth,” manager Jim Leyland said. “I don’t know how serious it was, but he couldn’t bend it.” If Sheffield joins Curtis Granderson on the DL, the Tigers would likely go with Marcus Thames at DH and call up Mike Hessman.
All of a sudden the Tigers’ high-powered lineup looks average with Granderson, Cabrera and now Sheffield falling victim to various injuries.
