Former Laney Buccaneer Jeff Ferrell gets the call up from Detroit Tigers
WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — 2009 Laney High graduate Jeff Ferrell will be eligible to pitch for the Detroit Tigers Friday night in Detroit against the Toronto Blue Jays. Ferrell has been called up from AAA Toledo.
UPDATE: (Friday night) – Jeff Ferrell did not pitch on Friday night in Detroit in his team’s 8-6 win over Toronto.
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DETROIT (DETROIT TIGERS RELEASE, JASON BECK) — The Tigers had a bullpen shakeup on Friday, designating veteran setup men Joba Chamberlain and Tom Gorzelanny while promoting converted starters Jeff Ferrell and Drew VerHagen.
The Tigers’ bullpen has struggled after a strong start. After a three-game sweep to the Pirates that included 11 runs on 24 hits over 16 1/3 innings against Detroit relievers, the team made the shuffle, going with younger arms into the midseason stretch.
Both Chamberlain and Gorzelanny were relatively low-risk signings on one-year, $1 million contracts — Gorzelanny signing in January, Chamberlain re-signing early in Spring Training. Neither rediscovered the effectiveness they had in stretches last season.
For Ferrell, the promotion completes a rapid rise up through the Tigers’ organization after five years as a middling starter, including a 5.54 ERA in the rotation at Erie last season. After missing most of April this season with shoulder tightness, Ferrell returned to the SeaWolves in the bullpen, picked up velocity on his fastball and found immediate success, saving 12 games while allowing five runs on 21 hits over 27 innings with four walks and 35 strikeouts.
Tigers president/general manager Dave Dombrowski saw Ferrell convert a two-inning save at Akron on June 20 during a tour of the farm system. A week later, Ferrell was in Toledo, earning the save in his Triple-A debut June 29. That ended up being his only appearance as a Mud Hen.
VerHagen reached the big leagues as a starter, making a spot start last July before back problems ended his 2014 season. He was set to serve as an insurance starter at Triple-A Toledo this year before more injury woes landed him on the DL for April and May. When he returned, the Tigers put him in relief — first at Toledo for three struggling appearances, then at Erie for two runs on six hits over 6 2/3 innings.
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DETROIT (AP) – Anibal Sanchez’s no-hit bid was broken up when former Detroit teammate Ezequiel Carrera lined a single to left with one out in the eighth inning, and the Tigers held on to beat the Toronto Blue Jays 8-6 Friday on a night when Miguel Cabrera limped off with a calf injury.
Given an 8-0 lead, Sanchez (7-7) wound up allowing four runs, three hits and three walks in 7 1-3 innings, and left after 117 pitches.
He was bidding to become the sixth pitcher to throw no-hitters in the AL and NL, according to STATS, a feat accomplished by Cy Young, Jim Bunning, Nolan Ryan, Hideo Nomo and Randy Johnson. Sanchez pitched a no-hitter for the Florida Marlins against Arizona on Sept. 6, 2006.
Cabrera, a two-time AL MVP, was on first base with no outs in the fourth inning and a 3-2 count to Victor Martinez, and took off with the pitch. Martinez fouled the ball off, but Cabrera pulled up sharply, grabbing his left leg. He was attended to by trainers and limped off the field. Detroit said Cabrera will have an MRI.
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