Detroit Tigers Clips Sunday, April 15, 2012 Detroit Free Press Chicago 5, Detroit Tigers 1: Tigers' bats go cold; Starter Adam Wilk knocked out by Prince Fielder's foul (Windsor) Tigers swing away, but Floyd makes 'em miss (Windsor) White Sox 5, Tigers 1: Notes, quotes from Saturday's loss (Windsor) Ticker: Tigers' Justin Verlander gets personal in Men's Journal (Schrader) 3 up, 3 down | Prince Fielder on Miguel Cabrera's power: 'He hits it to right like I hit it to right' (Machota) On deck this week for the Tigers: Royals, Rangers (Staff) Chicago 5, Detroit 1: Tigers' bats quiet again vs. Chicago White Sox (Windsor) Brandon Inge 'excited' to be back with Tigers in Chicago (Windsor) Minnesota Twins claim Tigers' Clete Thomas off waivers (Windsor) Jackie Robinson's legacy includes supporting young scholars who aim to change world (Riley) The Detroit News Tigers offense cold again in second straight loss to Sox (Gage) Tigers' Brandon Inge looking forward to possibly starting Sunday (Gage) Adam Wilk's gem ends in pain, but he won't miss start for Tigers (Gage) Tigers lose outfielder Clete Thomas to Twins in waiver claim (Gage) MLive.com Aggressive Detroit Tigers hitters come up empty against Gavin Floyd in 5-1 loss to White Sox (Iott) Adam Wilk pitches well in first start; Detroit Tigers' bats cold again in loss to White Sox (Iott) Detroit Tigers' Adam Wilk removed from game after foul ball into dugout (Iott) Brandon Inge upon return from disabled list to Detroit Tigers: 'I can't wait to play' (Iott) Minnesota Twins claim outfielder Clete Thomas off waivers from Detroit Tigers (Iott) Detroit Tigers lineup: Adam Wilk to face Gavin Floyd in first major league start (Iott) MLB.com Tigers offer little support in Wilk's first start (Beck) Virgil a trail blazer for Tigers (Beck) Wilk leaves after taking foul ball off shoulder (Beck) White Sox take aim at sweep of Tigers (Berry) Schlereth unable to harness command (Beck) Outfielder Thomas claimed off waivers by Twins (Beck) Inge expects to start Sunday against lefty (Beck) Fister's treatment continues, no timetable set (Beck) Associated Press Tigers activate Inge, recall Wilk (Staff) Wilk injured in dugout, Tigers fall to White Sox (Staff) CBSSports.com Daily Transactions 2 Chicago 5, Detroit Tigers 1: Tigers' bats go cold; Starter Adam Wilk knocked out by Prince Fielder's foul April 15, 2012 By Shawn Windsor / Detroit Free Press CHICAGO -- For the second straight game, the Tigers couldn't get a hit when it mattered most. And for the second straight time, they lost to the White Sox -- this time 5-1. The Tigers managed only five hits Saturday at U.S. Cellular Field. The lack of hitting ---- Detroit has scored three runs in two days here -- overshadowed a solid performance by first-time starter Adam Wilk. Not only did Wilk not get any run support, he had the misfortune of sitting in the wrong place at the wrong time in the dugout. In the bottom of the sixth inning, Prince Fielder hit a foul toward the dugout that hit Wilk on the left (pitching) shoulder. At that point, the Tigers were down, 2-0, and Wilk had given up only three hits. The foul ball caused a contusion, and Wilk had to leave the game. Collin Balester took over and promptly gave up back-to-back doubles. It was that kind of day. Twice, the Tigers loaded the bases and both times had nothing to show for it. Only an eighth-inning home run by Brennan Boesch prevented a shutout. Chicago's Gavin Floyd pitched six shutout innings. The White Sox are 5-2 and have a half-game lead atop the Central Division. The Tigers (5-3) have lost three of four. Contact Shawn Windsor: 313-222-6487 or [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @freepspartans. More Details: EARLY LINE Even with the loss of Victor Martinez to injury, the signing of Prince Fielder led to speculation that the Tigers' offense would be much improved. Here's how it compares to the first eight games of 2011: 2011 2012 W-L 3-5 5-3 AB 273 267 H 72 74 2B 18 9 3B 0 3 HR 10 10 R 38 43 BB 25 21 SO 59 52 BA .264 .277 OBP .323 .334 SLG .440 .446 More Details: More inside The book "Summer of '68" explores the 1968 baseball season through the prism of the nation's socially combustible climate, with post-riot Detroit and its World Series champion Tigers at the heart of the story. The book is excerpted in today's Entertainment + Travel section, which includes an interview with author Tim Wendel. 3 Tigers swing away, but Floyd makes 'em miss 5 hits not enough to beat White Sox April 15, 2012 By Shawn Windsor / Detroit Free Press CHICAGO -- White Sox pitcher Gavin Floyd pitched six scoreless innings Saturday against the Tigers. Or, as Tigers manager Jim Leyland put it, Floyd, "took advantage of our aggressiveness." The Tigers managed five hits in their 5-1 loss to the Central Division rivals. Detroit has scored three runs over the past two games. When they scored 23 combined runs during the second and third games of the season, Leyland cautioned everyone that the bounty wouldn't always be so plentiful. "This is why I was telling everybody don't get too excited," Leyland said. "You know, we've faced eight real good pitchers. You don't wear out good pitching. It just doesn't happen." It does for Austin Jackson, at least for the moment. The centerfielder collected three more hits -- two singles and a double -- and leads the team in batting at .433. Jackson is so focused that when he rapped a laser into left- center he knew he was getting to second as soon as he left the batter's box. His confidence paid off, even though the ball didn't squirt that far into the gap, when Jackson slid into second a split-second before the ball arrived. The moxie gave the Tigers a runner at second with no outs. Floyd then struck out Brennan Boesch, induced a groundout from Miguel Cabrera, walked Prince Fielder, hit Delmon Young and struck out Alex Avila with the bases loaded. It was the second time Floyd escaped a bases- loaded jam. The first came in the second inning, when Ryan Raburn lofted a fly ball to centerfield to end the threat. Other than loading the bases twice with the help of a couple of walks and two hit batters -- Floyd hit Young in the second inning, too -- the Tigers couldn't get anything going. "You swing at balls, you make outs," said Leyland, "Floyd took advantage of that." Detroit didn't push across a run until Boesch took Jesse Crain deep in the eighth inning. By then the White Sox were up four runs. Perhaps the number would've been smaller had Adam Wilk not taken a foul ball on the left shoulder as he sat in the dugout during the sixth inning. Wilk didn't see Fielder's foul coming. He was on the bench, and a group of players were hanging on the dugout railing in front of him. When Fielder swung, the ball raced backward, skipped into the dirt in foul territory and hopped through the railing into Wilk. "It hurt," said Wilk, "but I feel fine. It's just gonna be a little stiff." Wilk was immediately taken back to the clubhouse for treatment on a contusion on his throwing shoulder. He said the staff didn't want to take any chances. One fluky bounce and his starting debut was done. "It was disappointing," said Wilk. He'd given up only two runs and three hits at that point and had thrown just 62 pitches -- 40 for strikes. Both runs were solo shots because of pitches he left up in the zone in the middle of the plate. Despite the mistakes, Wilk said he was pleased with his effort. So was Leyland, who said Wilk wouldn't miss his next start. That will likely be Thursday at Comerica Park against Texas. 4 White Sox 5, Tigers 1: Notes, quotes from Saturday's loss April 15, 2012 By Shawn Windsor / Detroit Free Press At U.S. Cellular Field, Chicago WHAT HAPPENED: Gavin Floyd pitched six scoreless innings, helped by escaping two bases-loaded jams, and shut down the Tigers. The White Sox smacked three home runs -- all solo shots, and ruined Adam Wilk's first career start. Wilk pitched five innings, allowed three hits and two runs. BIG BATS COOLING: Prince Fielder and Miguel Cabrera have combined for one hit during the series. In 16 plate appearances, the sluggers have walked twice and struck out three times. INGE SIGHTING: Brandon Inge got a ninth-inning pinch-hit appearance that turned out to be the final out -- Inge grounded out. Inge joined the team Saturday and is expected to start today against White Sox left-hander Chris Sale. Jim Leyland also let Gerald Laird pinch-hit in the ninth inning for Alex Avila. Laird is expected to start today to give Avila a day off. FIRST TIME FOR EVERYTHING: Delmon Young was hit by pitches in his first two plate appearances. The back-to-back drillings was the first time that had happened in his career, according to baseball-reference.com . OH, THAT BULLPEN: Daniel Schlereth's struggles continued. The reliever pitched 1 1/3 innings, gave up three hits and a run, pushing his ERA to 9.00 for the season.