Stop us if you’ve heard this before, but a Detroit Tigers pitcher left a game with an injury.
This time, it was rookie Alex Faedo, who exited the second game of Monday’s double-header with right-hip soreness in the fourth inning.
Faedo, the 27th man on the roster for the doubleheader, will return to Toledo regardless of his status or need to go on the injured list.
Faedo is 1-4 on the season with a 5.04 ERA and 42 strikeouts in 52 innings of work.
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Already this season Casey Mize, Matt Manning, Michael Pineda, Tyler Alexander, and Eduardo Rodriguez — who have all occupied spots in the starting rotation — have left via injury or to the restricted list.
The 26-year-old Faedo was cruising early in the game. He worked a 1-2-3 frame to start off the contest, before allowing a walk in the second and a soft single in the third inning but no other damage.
He struck out three batters during that same stretch and was at just 40 pitches entering the fourth inning. The second time through the order proved to be a different story.
Faedo allowed a leadoff walk to Amed Rosario, followed by a Jose Ramirez single and Franmil Reyes double off the wall in left-center field to tie the game at one.
Andres Gimenez hit a sacrifice fly to right field before an Owen Miller single to left made it a 3-1 game.
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That prompted a visit from manager A.J. Hinch and assistant athletic trainer Matt Rankin, who pulled the Tigers starter. Tyler Alexander got Steven Kwan to line out to center to get out of the inning.
Faedo finished the night throwing 3⅔ innings, allowing three earned runs on four hits and four walks with three strikeouts. He threw 66 pitches, 37 of which were strikes and generated six swings and misses.
This is the fourth consecutive start where Faedo failed to make it through five innings. In his last four outings, he’s given up 17 earned runs in 15 innings on 24 hits and nine strikeouts.
Prior to that, Faedo had given up two runs or fewer and gone at least five innings in the first seven starts of his career.
Contact Tony Garcia at apgarcia@freepress.com. Follow him on twitter at @realtonygarcia.