The Tigers will be without their regular closer in the series rubber match against the Seattle Mariners on Wednesday night, as Jose Valverde has been deemed unavailable to pitch, according to manager Jim Leyland.
Valverde threw 31 pitches in Tuesday night's game, walking the bases loaded (one walk coming via an intentional pass) and just merely escaped to save the Tigers' 6-4 win. Further, Valverde has thrown in four out of the last five games, with at least three of those involving high pitch counts (and pulse rates).
Joaquin Benoit will serve as the Tigers' closer, if it is necessary. He has one blown save this season, but it came in his regular eighth inning role. He saved two games for the Tigers last season.
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