Tigers news: D-backs manager makes wildly inaccurate comments after loss, Kenta Maeda update

The Detroit Tigers took 2-of-3 from the Arizona Diamondbacks this weekend, including a 13-0 shellacking of the Snakes on Friday night at Chase Field in Phoenix. The defending National League champions have been scuffling this season, and the Tigers were happy to add to their misery this last week.

D-backs manager Torey Lovullo was at the center of some controversy during Saturday's game as Arizona's skipper got into a shouting match with Tigers starter Jack Flaherty. Cooler heads eventually prevailed, and thankfully the dugouts didn't empty, but there was no love lost this weekend when the two teams were going toe-to-toe in the desert.

After Sunday's game was over, Lovullo spoke to the media and was quite complimentary of the Tigers — perhaps even too complimentary.

Tigers news: D-backs manager makes wildly inaccurate comments after loss

After Sunday's game against the Tigers, Lovullo said, "The Tigers are a good team. I would not be surprised if they made a lot of noise inside of the AL Central. They’re finding their way." That's a fair assessment. The Tigers have shown that if everything comes together there's a chance that Detroit will actually be in contention for the AL Central this season.

But then Lovullo's comments went from pleasantries to outright fabrications. "They do a really good job with two outs," Lovullo said, "You can’t put them away. You can’t finish them off." Wait a minute, is there another team named the Tigers who also plays Major League Baseball? Because if Lovullo is talking about the team that resides in Detroit, he might want to so some fact checking.

Detroit is terrible this season when hitting with two outs. The Tigers are batting .223/.296/.365 with two outs in an inning. Detroit's .661 OPS with two outs ranks 20th among all major league teams this season. Nice try, Torey, but you missed the boat on this one.

Tigers news: Kenta Maeda injury update

Kenta Maeda, who'd been dealing with an illness of late, made a rehab start with Triple-A over the weekend. The veteran threw three-plus innings for the Mud Hens and gave up one run on three hits while striking out six batters.

Jason Beck of MLB.com is reporting that Maeda has rejoined the Tigers at Kauffman Stadium for the team's upcoming series against the Kansas City Royals. While the Tigers are unlikely to activate the right-hander until just before his next start, it would appear as though Maeda proved what he needed to in order to make it back into the rotation. Look for the Tigers to reactivate Maeda later this week.

More Detroit Tigers News from Motor City Bengals