A bad day got even worse for the Tigers Thursday night.
Omar Infante, making his first rehab start at second base for West Michigan, aggravated his ankle injury and left after four innings.
"I'm feeling a lot of pain in my ankle right now," Infante told MLive.com. "I think I came back too soon. I don't know what I'm going to do."
Infante, who played most of Wednesday's game as a designated hitter, said that the problem comes when he runs and fields ground balls, not when he's hitting. He is planning to return to Detroit on Friday for another evaluation and thinks his disabled-list stint is likely to be extended.
Infante, who is hitting .309 this season, hasn't played since being injured by a questionable take-out slide by Toronto's Colby Rasmus on July 3. Rasmus was trying to break up a double play, but waited until he was almost to the bag before launching himself directly into Infante's plant leg.
The slide was so late that Rasmus ended up on the turf beyond the dirt cutout in the Rogers Centre infield. Several of Infante's teammates, most notably Torii Hunter, called it a clearly dirty play.
A long-term absence for Infante would hurt the Tigers at the best of times, but is a bigger blow with Miguel Cabrera sidelined with a sore hip and Hunter having left Thursday's game in Chicago with Achilles' soreness.
The Tigers, who have very little organization depth in the middle infield, are also wondering if All-Star shortstop Jhonny Peralta will face a suspension for his reported connection to the Biogenesis scandal.
