Tigers notes: Alex Wilson helps out again in spot start

OAKLAND, Calif. -- Alex Wilson didn't need to hear it.

When the Tigers' right-hander saw his manager approach him on the team bus Wednesday morning, he knew.

"I got it," he said.

With scheduled starter Alfredo Simon on the bereavement list, Wilson got the start in the series finale against the Athletics and got the Tigers off on the right foot in the team's 3-2 win at O.co Coliseum.

Wilson threw 42 pitches over three hitless innings. He walked one and struck out one.

"I tried to make it as routine as possible," he said.

So much so that instead of coming out of the dugout for the first inning, he walked in from the bullpen, at the recommendation of pitching coach Jeff Jones.

Wilson didn't even touch a baseball until the Tigers led off in the first inning.

Similar, he stressed. "I just wanted to keep it similar."

Wilson, a starter by trade coming up in the Red Sox organization, hadn't started a game in three-plus years. As the least-talked about player in the off-season's Rick Porcello-for-Yoenis Cespedes swap, he has been solid for the Tigers this season.

He has a 1.99 ERA in 22 2/3 innings with 16 strikeouts and three walks.

"I'm just here to help the team any way I can," he said.

On more than one occasion this season, he has saved the Tigers bullpen when a starter has been roughed up early. And on Wednesday, a true "bullpen day," he saved it again.

Ryan's road:Kyle Ryan found out he was coming up from Triple-A Toledo manager Larry Parrish around 12:30 Eastern Time.

After he got everything ready, packed up and took a shower, it was about 2:30 a.m.

"Might as well not even go to sleep," he said. "I have a better chance of waking up."

From then on, he said, it was basically get on the plane and sleep.

He went from a 6 a.m. flight in Louisville, where the Mud Hens were playing, to an 8 a.m. flight in Chicago, and landed just after 11 a.m. in Oakland.

"I still haven't gotten much sleep," he said. "I got about three hours. And that was on a plane."

He got to the park an hour before the game and then was the second leg of a brilliant nine-inning bullpen performance by the Tigers: Ryan pitched three innings, allowing one run on three hits with three walks.

He picked up the win, his first of the season. He is 0-5 in the minor leagues.

Here and there: Jose Iglesias ' left knee contusion is still swollen, manager Brad Ausmus said. "When he thinks he can play, he'll play," Ausmus said. Iglesias took full batting practice and groundballs on Tuesday, and running is the only time it bothers him. He ran before Wednesday's game and said he "Probably" would have played if it were a playoff game … Alex Avila is close to resuming baseball activities, Ausmus said.

Contact Anthony Fenech: afenech@freepress.com . Follow him on Twitter @anthonyfenech . James Jahnke contributed.

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