This injury isn't a big deal--but I think it's a sign of more to come. At his age, once you start getting small injuries--a big one usually comes in the end.
Gary Sheffield tore a tendon in his ring finger while sliding into second base in the eighth inning Thursday, but he intends to play through the injury.
Until the swelling subsides, he won't know for sure if he can play. He would have come out had his turn come up again in today's game. "He would have not been able to hit if we came around to him in the ninth," manager Jim Leyland said. "I don’t know how serious it was, but he couldn’t bend it." If Sheffield joins Curtis Granderson on the DL, the Tigers would likely go with Marcus Thames at DH and call up Mike Hessman.