Tigers’ Michael Fulmer leaves start with right knee inflammation

Well, this isn’t good. Michael Fulmer left his start against the Cleveland Indians with right knee inflammation after just five pitches on Saturday. Fulmer surrendered a pair of solo home runs to Francisco Lindor and Michael Brantley before he met with head athletic trainer Doug Teter on the mound. After a short discussion between Fulmer, Teter, and manager Ron Gardenhire, Fulmer was pulled from the game.

There was no obvious sign of injury during Fulmer’s brief start. His four-seam fastball sat at 93-94 miles per hour on the radar gun, and he did not show any visible signs of pain while on the mound. Fox Sports Detroit announcers Matt Shepherd and Kirk Gibson had no update when the broadcast came back from commercial, but the team later announced that Fulmer’s knee was the issue.

Fulmer was replaced by lefthander Matt Hall, who is making his major league debut after being called up from Triple-A Toledo earlier this month. Hall and the awful Tigers defense (mostly the awful defense) combined to allow four more runs before finally retiring the side in the first.