Tigers’ Al Alburquerque released from hospital, on seven-day concussion DL
BALTIMORE — As Kevin Rand approached an obviously distressed Al Alburquerque on Friday afternoon, the Tigers’ head athletic trainer felt encouraged.
Alburquerque was writhing on the ground in pain after a line drive off an Oriole player’s bat smacked him just above his left ear — but the fact that he was conscious was a good sign that the rookie reliever would be OK.
The Tigers are optimistic that Alburquerque, who was placed on baseball’s new seven-day concussion disabled list Friday, will fully recover after being hit during batting practice.
He was released from the hospital Saturday afternoon and headed back to his hotel room to rest. He is on antiseizure medication to fight slight internal bleeding.
The Tigers will fly to Detroit tonight after the finale of the three-game series against the Orioles, but Alburquerque will not be on the plane because of the air pressure. He will to be driven roughly 500 miles back to the Detroit area.
“If we were on the West Coast we might have to fly, but being close to Detroit as we are, it is more prudent to drive,” said Rand, who added that he is surprised that pregame accidents don’t happen more often.
Rand wouldn’t say how long Alburquerque will would be unavailable. Replacement reliever Ryan Perry arrived from Triple-A Toledo for today’s game.
Still, the Tigers said they feel fortunate it wasn’t worse.
“He’s just going to have to watch it,” manager Jim Leyland said. “They think he’s going to be fine. They think there won’t be any issue, but they are watching.”
NOTEBOOK: Rand said outfielder Brennan Boesch (left thumb) is improving, but is still considered day-to-day.… In a defensive move, Leyland replaced Carlos Guillen with Ramon Santiago at second base in the ninth inning of Friday night’s 5-4 victory. as a defensive replacement. It was the second game in a row that Leyland made the move. The Tigers’ 5-4 victory Friday night was the club’s seventh straight one-run victory, matching a team record that was set in 1944.
Contact Vince Ellis at 313-222-6479 or vellis@freepress.com.