Hao-Yu

Lee

Lee extended his hitting streak to 10 consecutive games with an RBI double against Royals veteran Michael Wacha in the second inning. He capped off the multi-hit performance with a fourth-inning blast into the left-field corner. The 23-year-old rookie is tearing the cover off the ball of late, hitting .370 (10-for-27) with two homers in eight games since the All-Star break.

Lee hit an RBI single off opener Beck Way (who was a loser, baby, today) to stake the Tigers to a 2-0 lead early. That was all they’d need with Tarik Skubal on the mound. Lee added a two-out double in the sixth but was stranded. Lee has mostly worked as a platoon bat against lefties this year, starting 27 games against lefties and hitting .270/.308/.432 against them so far this year.

As a team, the Tigers couldn’t do anything against Reid Detmers and company throughout the ballgame, They finally got something going against Kirby Yates in the ninth though as Dillon Dingler was hit by a pitch and Riley Greene worked a one-out walk. Down to their final out, Lee smoked a ball into the gap in right-center, plating both runs and putting the Tigers ahead to stay. The rookie infielder finished the night 1-for-4 and is now hitting .255/.288/.392 with four homers and 17 RBI in 161 plate appearances on the season.

Lee did his damage off of Rangers’ right-hander Nathan Eovaldi in the fifth inning, belting a first-pitch splitter for a 383-foot (98.9-mph EV) two-run shot to left center that pulled the Tigers to within two runs at 5-3. That would be as close as they would get. Lee struck out in each of his other three plate appearances in the ballgame — including with the bases loaded and two outs in the sixth inning. For the season, the rookie infielder is hitting .255/.292/.401 with four homers, 15 RBI and a 40/7 K/BB ratio in 145 plate appearances.

Torres injured himself on a swing on Monday and will head back to the injured list after spending a month there earlier in the season with the same injury. Given that he reinjured himself, we’d expect Torres to be sidelined at least a month this time as well, if not more, to ensure he heals fully. Hao-Yu Lee will be the primary starting second baseman in the meantime.

This is Torres’ second straight game on the bench after he left Monday’s game with pain in his left side following a swing. The Tigers have an off day on Thursday, so they likely want to give their second baseman at least one more day to rest before deciding if they need to play him on the injured list. Torres has already missed a month with an oblique strain in his left side and was hitting .341/.413/.585 in 11 games in June with two home runs, eight runs scored, and seven RBI. Another stint on the injured list would be a bummer. Hao-Yu Lee will continue to start at second base and bat eighth on Wednesday.

Lee was in part responsible for both of Detroit’s runs in Tuesday’s loss to the Astros, starting with a base hit in the second inning to drive in a run. He later led off the eighth inning with a double and scored on a sacrifice fly. The 23-year-old infielder is hitting .239/.271/.370 with two homers and 10 RBI across 96 plate appearances.

Torres made an early exit from Monday’s series opener with left side pain following an awkward swing. The 29-year-old second baseman will presumably undergo imaging to determine whether he’s dealing with another oblique issue, which caused him to miss time earlier this season. He’s day-to-day for the moment with rookie Hao-Yu Lee filling in at second base. It certainly wouldn’t be a surprise to see Torres hit the injured list at some point later this week.

Torres was lifted for a defensive replacement in the second inning after striking out in his lone at-bat of the contest. He appeared to tweak something on an awkward swing and was replaced afterwards by rookie Hao-Yu Lee at second base. There should be an update on his status shortly.

Lee returns to Detroit’s bench mix after hitting .205 (17-for-83) with two homers and nine RBI in 32 games for Detroit during his first stint in the majors earlier this season.