DETROIT -- There will be two tall, talented Venezuelans playing for the Tigers Saturday night.
One is veteran Miguel Cabrera, one of the top MVP candidates in the American League. The other will be rookie Avisail Garcia, 21, making his first major league start.
The 6-foot-4 Garcia made his big-league debut when he came into Friday night's game as a defensive replacement in right field in the eighth inning.
Garcia said he heard he was being called up from Erie SeaWolves manager Chris Cron.
"He said, 'You're going to the big leagues,'" Garcia said. "I said, 'No way.' He said, 'Yeah, you have to hurry up and take the car and go to Detroit.
"I said, 'Thank you so much for everything.' I was really happy."
With the success he had at Double-A, batting .312 with six home runs and 22 RBIs in 55 games, Garcia knew he had a chance to get the call.
"I just knew I had to play hard and they will make a decision," Garcia said. "'Me or (Nick) Castellanos, me or Castellanos?' Everybody said, 'You or Castellanos?' I said, 'I don't know, man.' Then they called me up."
Manager Jim Leyland is excited to see Garcia play his first full game in the majors.
"He's a terrific prospect, and that's exactly what he is, as we speak," Leyland said. "I don't expect the kid to hit two home runs tonight. Eventually, he'll do a lot of things, but I don't want to put any pressure on this kid — he's a baby.
"He's coming up here, and he's getting to play in a game. He's got a good face on him, and he looks comfortable. I love stuff like this. I'm happy about it. I'm thrilled to play the kid. I'm happy to give him a shot."
Raburn's back but hurting
It's been that kind of year for Ryan Raburn, who was reinstated from the disabled list Saturday.
Just when he had found his swing and was hitting .250 with four home runs and 12 RBIs in 15 games with the Toledo Mud Hens, he hurts his right quad muscle.
"I think it was Wednesday night," Raburn said. "I was coming around third to score in the bottom of the ninth. It wasn't even a play at home. I got about halfway there and it just grabbed on me."
With White Sox left-hander Francisco Liriano going Saturday, it would have been a natural thing to play Raburn.
"Had Raburn been 100 percent -- he'd hit four or five home runs down there; he'd hit left-handed pitchers real good -- he would've been an option tonight," Leyland said. "But he's not an option, as we speak, because the quad's still sore."
Raburn said he figured he'd be called up when the rosters expanded Sept. 1. But now he's not able to play.
"I was feeling good, getting some hits and stuff, just one thing after the other," Raburn said. "It seems like it never ends right now.
"It's just been frustrating the last, well, this whole year pretty much."
Raburn was batting .172 with one home run and 12 RBIs in 63 games with the Tigers this season.
But playing regularly with the Mud Hens seemed to have given him a lift.
"I didn't feel much different than I did earlier in the year," Raburn said. "It's just I started getting results.
"Sometimes when you get results, you can try to add a little bit, take a chance, maybe try to hit a home run, try and drive the ball a little more. Balls were falling in.
"The main thing was, I got some at-bats in, saw a lot of pitches. I felt good. My confidence got a lot better there, but your confidence is always high when you get results."
Raburn said he was hoping to be able to at least come off the bench by Sunday against another lefty in Chris Sale.
The Tigers also recalled the contracts of infielder Danny Worth, catcher Bryan Holaday and right-hander Luis Marte and purchased the contract of Don Kelly.
