KISSIMMEE, Fla. -- Kyle Ryan has started and relieved in the big leagues but if he's to make the Tigers this spring, it will be as a reliever.
Yet Ryan started Wednesday against the Houston Astros in a bullpen day.
Ryan allowed three runs in the first inning, which wasn't helped by a catcher's interference call on James McCann.
But Ryan also struck out two and did not walk a batter.
"I thought he threw pretty well, actually," Tigers manager Brad Ausmus said. "First ball was a chopper over the third baseman's head, then the catcher's interference. (Evan) Gattis hit the ball hard. Struck out a couple lefties in the first inning. There was the ball off the wall, he hit it decent but the wind was also howling in that direction. So I thought he actually pitched a lot better than what the scoreboard showed."
Ryan said he felt a little off before the game started, describing it as feeling like he was late for something.
"A little uncomfortable, starting after being in a reliever role all spring training," Ryan said. "But I just told myself I was going to go about it like I was in a relief appearance. I can't say enough that it was a little uncomfortable but it's adversity. They're going to tell me what to do, I'm going to go out and do it.
"Overall, I felt like my pitches were there. A couple unlucky situations, a couple good hits though, as well. So it was all right."
Ryan was making his 10th appearance of the spring and is now 1-2 with a 6.23 ERA.
The thing that Ausmus has emphasized all spring is that he doesn't really take spring stats into account too much.
Ausmus is likely to remember that Ryan was 2-0 with a 2.61 ERA and 1.16 WHIP in six games, one start, last season.
Ryan said that experience did help him coming into this spring.
"For me, when I started in Chicago, I was a lot more comfortable," Ryan said. "A lot more comfortable than I was in the 'pen just because I knew I was going to go and start. I knew when I was going to throw. I knew what I needed to do in order to get ready and out of the 'pen, it was a little uncomfortable but like I told everybody, I like the adrenaline, it's an adrenaline rush, it's something that I can overcome and I should be able to make the pitch and if I don't, that's on me."
Ryan was followed by Joe Nathan (1 inning), Tom Gorzelanny (1 2/3 inning), minor leaguer Guido Knudson (1/3 inning), Al Alburquerque (1 inning), Blaine Hardy (1 inning) and minor leaguer Paul Voelker.
"Hardy looked good. Joe was good," Ausmus said. "They scored the three runs off of Ryan in the first inning and then they didn't score again. So everyone threw pretty well."
McCann and Dixon Machado accounted for the offense with an RBI double and RBI single, respectively.
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