DETROIT -- Detroit Tigers pitcher Justin Verlander left his Sunday start against the Chicago White Sox in the third inning with tightness in his right groin.
Detroit announced the move was made as a precaution.
"He had an MRI just to make sure things are OK, but as things stand, we expect he'll make his next start,'' Tigers manager Brad Ausmus said after his team's 7-4 win over the White Sox.
Verlander struggled through 72 pitches over two-plus innings. He struck out Tim Anderson with the bases loaded to end the first inning after allowing one run, and then left the bases full when he fanned Avisail Garcia to end a scoreless second.
Verlander was checked by head athletic trainer Kevin Rand in the second inning and again in the third after Chicago's Todd Frazier led off with a home run and Yolmer Sanchez walked on four pitches. Warwick Saupold came on in relief with Chicago leading 2-0.
"I thought we had to protect him a little bit," Ausmus said. "He said he felt like he could keep pitching. But I didn't want him out there protecting his groin and then have something else be affected, like his shoulder. That was my call."
It was Verlander's shortest start since he went only one inning against Pittsburgh on Aug. 11, 2014, and the fourth start of his big league career in which he did not get an out in the third.
