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Bench players seek tricks to stay fresh

DETROIT -- Omar Infante couldn't crack the Tigers' roster for a bench spot. He still made a contribution when rookie infielder Dixon Machado sought out advice for the age-old conundrum: How does a bench player who doesn't play often keep fresh for when he actually does?

"I asked him for advice the last day," Machado said, "and he said to just practice at all the positions with a lot of intensity, like throw hard to first and get to the ball as quickly as in the game, and hit the same, swing hard. He said that if you do everything slow, when you get to play, everything's going to be too fast.