Rays/MLB

Tigers 1B likely out for playoffs

By ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published October 12, 2006

OAKLAND, Calif. - Tigers first baseman Sean Casey has a partial tear in a muscle in his left calf and could miss the rest of AL Championship Series against the Athletics.

Casey injured himself in the sixth inning of Detroit's win in Tuesday's opener. An MRI exam Wednesday showed the small tear.

"The trainers are hoping for a miracle when they say possible by the end of this series," manager Jim Leyland said. "But I think that's probably not going to happen. So I think we'll just have to do with what we have."

General manager Dave Dombrowski was more optimistic, saying there was "a good possibility" Casey could return late in this series and an even better chance he'd play if Detroit made it to the World Series.

Casey batted .245 with five homers and 30 RBIs in 53 games after being acquired from Pittsburgh. He is 7-for-20 with four RBIs in the postseason.

NEW ROLE: Neifi Perez, acquired this summer to fill in when second baseman Placido Polanco got hurt, started at shortstop, and regular shortstop Carlos Guillen moved to first.

Perez also moved into the No. 2 hole, with Polanco taking Casey's spot as the third hitter against Esteban Loaiza.

"Obviously when you lose your No. 3 hitter it changes a lot of things," Leyland said. "So you try to get as versatile a lineup as you possibly can, thinking that you may have to do some other things. (Perez) can bunt, he can hit and run, he can do some things."

Perez was acquired from the Cubs on Aug. 20 and hit .200 in 21 games with Detroit, with no homers and five RBIs. He walked three times, leaving him with a .235 on-base percentage, not exactly what teams usually look for in their No. 2 hitter.

But Leyland still likes what Perez gives the team.

"He's liable to swing at one 1 foot over his head and he's liable to swing at one 2 feet for a triple," Leyland said. "The thing I love with Neifi Perez is energy. He plays with a passion."

CAFE E'LO: Loaiza's now infamous coffee incident with Milton Bradley during his division series start last week at Minnesota was a hot topic heading into his Game 2 outing.

Bradley tossed his batting gloves onto a dugout shelf in the Metrodome, knocking a cup of coffee onto the pitcher. Loaiza had on three layers and another uniform at the ready, so he quickly changed.

"That right there, I think I wore it; you could say I wore it," Loaiza said, laughing. "It was just one of the things that I didn't know how to react, but just to stay focused and stay in my plan of going out there and not paying attention to that."

Plus, the coffee never got on his skin and wasn't too hot.

[Last modified October 12, 2006, 01:36:32]