Tigers' Burrows makes short, sweet return

Beau Burrows looked sharp in his return to the mound after 51 days on the injured list.
Detroit's No. 6 prospect allowed one hit and two walks while striking out five over four scoreless innings in Class A Advanced Lakeland's 6-1 loss to St. Lucie at First Data Field.

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"It was a relief to get out there and pitch pain-free and just everything coming together," Burrows said. "It felt good."
The 22nd overall pick in the 2015 Draft didn't allow a hit until one out in the fourth inning, when the Mets' Jeremy Vasquez lined a 1-0 pitch to right field for a single. Four pitches later, Cody Bohanek hit into a 6-4-3 double play to end the frame and Burrows' outing. He threw 34 of 59 pitches for strikes.
The 6-foot-2 right-hander retired five of the first six batters he faced, four of them by strikeout. He worked around a walk to Vasquez and a wild pitch in the second as well as a leadoff walk to Mets No. 29 prospectNick Meyer in the third.
"I've been throwing pretty normally for the last few weeks, so everything felt fine," Burrows said.
He hadn't pitched since April 27 due to right-shoulder inflammation and tendinitis.
"A little minor thing that we got taken care of," Burrows said. "It's all good now."
The Fort Worth, Texas, native said he began feeling discomfort in his last two starts for Triple-A Toledo. Burrows hadn't pitched since April 27, when he allowed eight earned runs in 4 2/3 innings against Gwinnett.
"I don't think that had anything to do with the injury," he said of the uncharacteristic start. "I think that was just some bad pitches to a good team and they took advantage of my mistakes."

In five starts over 23 2/3 innings this season in the International League, the 22-year-old went 0-2 with a 5.32 ERA.
Burrows went down to Lakeland and worked with Corey Tremble, Detroit's medical and rehab coordinator, first rehabbing the shoulder and then getting it back into pitching shape.
"Him and I crushed it for a good, solid month and now I'm back healthy," the righty said.
Burrows doesn't know how many starts he'll make before returning to the Mud Hens' rotation. For the time being, he's just adopting a positive, singular mind-set after feeling no pain in his return.
"Taking care of my body the right way," he said, "and just go into it with a good attitude, a lot of focus and try to have everything working when I go out and pitch."
Burrows spent 2018 with Double-A Erie, going 10-9 with a 4.10 ERA, 127 strikeouts and 56 walks over 134 innings.