Detroit Tigers right-hander Spencer Turnbull entered a hotel room in St. Louis after the seventh start in his return from Tommy John surgery. He had allowed five runs and failed to complete five innings May 6 against the Cardinals at Busch Stadium.
President of baseball operations Scott Harris, manager A.J. Hinch and pitching coach Chris Fetter greeted him in the hotel room and delivered bad news: The Tigers were optioning Turnbull, their second-longest tenured pitcher, to Triple-A Toledo because of his poor performance.
He posted a 7.26 ERA in seven starts.
"We talked about some of the things that he was doing well," Harris said before Friday's game at Comerica Park.