Joel Zumaya’s painful right arm injury

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MINNEAPOLIS — Reliever Joel Zumaya’s painful right arm injury marred the Detroit Tiger’s move into first place, after the Tigers used four first-inning runs against Francisco Liriano to beat the Minnesota Twins 7-5 on Monday night.

Brennan Boesch and Miguel Cabrera hit two-run doubles in the first off Liriano, who surrendered a season-high six runs in six-plus innings while the Tigers passed the Twins for a half-game lead in the AL Central.

That took the background to Zumaya’s health, though, when the hard-throwing right-hander squirmed and winced around on the mound in obvious pain after throwing a pitch with one out in the eighth inning.

Zumaya, who missed large portions of the last two seasons because of shoulder problems, was in so much discomfort his right thumb was shaking while the trainer checked him out.

Manager Jim Leyland said Zumaya will have an MRI exam Tuesday morning. He said it is an elbow injury but declined to speculate further.

"It doesn't look good," Leyland said. "It breaks your heart."

Zumaya, who was wearing a sling on his right arm in the clubhouse, declined to comment through a team spokesman.

Tigers catcher Gerald Laird said he heard a noise “just like a little pop” after Zumaya released the ball and was hesitant to go to the mound, fearing the worst.

Jose Valverde came in and got five straight outs for his 18th straight save, making a winner of Jeremy Bonderman (4-5) and moving the Tigers into first place for the first time since May 20. They were tied then with the sputtering Twins, who have led the division this season for all but a handful of days.

Minnesota fell to 10-15 in June, despite a home run and an RBI triple — his first three-base hit in more than six years — by Jim Thome. The Twins hit into three double plays and lead the majors with 88.

Liriano (6-6) lost his third straight start, the latest Twins starter to fail to stop the slide. Other than Carl Pavano, their rotation is reeling.

Just like on June 17, when Colorado scored three times in the first inning against Liriano and cruised to a victory behind ace Ubaldo Jimenez, the Twins couldn’t fully recover from an early deficit.

Source:
http://www.freep.com/article/20100628/SPORTS02/100628046/1050/Zumaya-throws-arm-out