After their 11-0 rout of the Twins, president and general manager Dave Dombrowski announced that closer Joe Nathan had been placed on the 15-day disabled list with a right elbow flexor strain.
"We are hoping he'll be fine at the end of 15 days," Dombrowski said.
In the interim, left-handed reliever Blaine Hardy was recalled from Toledo and manager Brad Ausmus said Joakim Soria would close games.
A healthy Soria might be better than Nathan anyway. The Tigers never got a chance to see what Soria could do last year, he got hurt right away just about after they acquired him.