For the third time in three games, the A's had a key player leave early against the Tigers in Detroit. First it was starter J.T. Ginn getting pulled after four innings on Tuesday, followed by All-Star first baseman Nick Kurtz leaving in the bottom of the second inning on Wednesday.

Both players exited due to a sickness that has been traveling around the A's clubhouse the past few days.

On Thursday, Zack Gelof was running toward the line in left field and ended up making a terrific sliding catch in foul territory. As he slid, his right knee collided with the short fence, ripping the knee of his pants.

"There's a deep laceration just underneath the kneecap," A's manager Mark Kotsay said after the A's 4-1 loss. "Fortunately it just missed the tendon. Obviously he'll be reevaluated tomorrow to verify that with an MRI. It's just another unfortunate injury for him. [He was] playing the game to win." 

With the All-Star break coming on Monday, it wouldn't be surprising to see the A's give Gelof the next three days off just to heal up a little bit before play resumes. 

Kotsay also said that this recent stretch with injuries has been tough, but they were in this game to the end, and that in a different game maybe those two line outs the team had in the ninth go for hits. This was meant to say that the effort level was there, and the process was good, but the results just didn't reflect that. 

"We use our whole bullpen to give our offense a chance. We had guys up that we wanted in the ninth inning, and they took great at-bats off Kenley [Jansen]. They just didn't have the results."

The A's started the game with an opener in Jose Suarez, who got the first four outs of the game without any issue. Scheduled starter Jack Perkins came on with an out in the second inning and got out of the inning just fine. 

In the third inning he gave up a solo home run to Jake Rogers directly after the Gelof injury (and delay). That home run wasn't awful. It was the next one that continued the trend the team is trying to get out of, with Perkins walking Kerry Carpenter in the bottom of the fifth and then throwing a ball down the middle to Zach McKinstry, which he drove out for a two-run shot. 

To make matters worse, the A's had just scratched across a run in the top of the fifth to tie the game at 1-1, and Perkins immediately gave up the homer. 

"We talk about the walk in front of the homer," Kotsay said. "That's something that has continually killed us. We definitely have to be better. It comes back to hurt us game in, game out. Solo homers don't hurt as much. [Two-run homers] are big momentum changers. It's a free base, it's a free run for our opponents."

The Tigers added a fourth run to their tally on a solo home run in the bottom of the seventh from Eduardo Valencia, who was making his MLB debut as a pinch-hitter. 

The A's will be using Jacob Lopez to open Friday's game against the Chicago White Sox after the team didn't announce a starter for the game when their probable pitchers for the weekend were announced earlier on Thursday. This is Aaron Civale's spot in the rotation, and he will presumably follow Lopez. 

Since returning from the IL, Civale is 0-4 in four starts and holds an 8.10 ERA (5.52 FIP) in 16 ⅔ innings.

Even before the injury he was generally maxing out at five innings of work on his days to pitch, so working with an opener is the A's way to try and make the most out of what they currently have, with the hope being the two can combine for at least six strong innings and keep the team in the game.

Lopez was called up from Triple-A Las Vegas on Tuesday and threw 63 pitches, so it's unclear what his pitch limit will be just a few days later. 

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