Tigers lose SP Reese Olson, give up a run in dumb third inning (updated)

Updated: Reese Olson suffered a right hip contusion but told reporters after the game he should be good for his next start.

Original: The third inning was both dumb and disappointing for the Detroit Tigers. Starting pitcher Reese Olson was well on his way to another 1-0 defeat after giving up his first home run since Sept. 20 of last year. Then Michael Massey of the Royals added injury to insult, line driving a ball back at Olson that knocked his glove flying one inning after hitting the aforementinoed home run.

It might have remained 1-0 if not for Tigers catcher Jake Rogers trying to play hero and scooping up the ball and throwing it awkwardly toward third base. Literally, just third base, as there were no Tigers fielders remotely near by at the time, allowing Vinnie Pasquantino to score and put the Royals up 2-0.

The comebacker hit Olson on the upper right leg near his hip, and while the rest of that was occuring around him he walked slowly off the mound, stunned. Per MLB.com's Jason Beck, the hit came off the bat at 101.8 mph.

After a conference, Olson was given a few warmup pitches to see whether he could keep going. Although he appeared to throw fine, Tigers manager A.J. Hinch made the call to go to reliever Beau Brieske instead of taking any chances. Olson walked off the field with a bit of a limp, showing it to be the right decision.

The Tigers are yet to announce the outcome of their examination of Olson.

While Olson has personally had a rather successful season thus far, he's been a bit snakebitten as well. He is yet to pick up a victory and his team has lost all but one of his starts -- all this while Olson carries a 2.16 ERA.

Two small positives: The first, Kerry Carpenter hit a 430-foot home run to left field in the top of the fourth inning to trim the game to 2-1. And the second, Brieske did not allow a baserunner to any of the seven Royals he faced after being pressed into duty.