DETROIT -- Jarrod Saltalamacchia stepped into the batter's box in the ninth inning of Sunday's 4-2 win over the Royals expecting a bunt sign. Never mind the three game-tying or go-ahead home runs he hit in the first two weeks of the season.
"Didn't get it the first pitch," he said. "The second pitch I was thinking they were going to give me a hit-and-run."
That wasn't the thinking from the manager. Though Saltalamacchia had practiced bunting in Spring Training to help keep shifting defenses honest, it's clearly not his forte.
"You'd be asking someone to do something he really hasn't done," manager Brad Ausmus said.