If Andy Dirks was surprised or disappointed to be playing for the Mud Hens Saturday, he certainly didn't show it.
In fact, Dirks said he understood his demotion from Detroit to Toledo Friday, a move that paved the way for Brandon Inge to return to the Tigers.
"That's the way the game is," Dirks said about the demotion. "They needed a spot filled at that time, and they had to make a move.
"That's part of the game. There's only 25 guys on the team, and that's what was best for the team at that time."
The Tigers admitted that Dirks didn't necessarily deserve the demotion. The 25-year-old was hitting .257 in 61 games, not a bad effort in his first taste of major league baseball. It wasn't as if Dirks had cooled off recently: He was hitting a respectable .257 in 35 at-bats in August.
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"[The Tigers] said, 'Go down there, play hard and get some at-bats,' " Dirks said. "They have some lefties they are facing coming up, so I probably wouldn't have gotten a lot of at-bats anyway.
"So I came here to keep working and keep getting better."
Toledo manager Phil Nevin said Dirks will play every day for the Hens as long as he's with the team. Before his promotion to Detroit on May 13, Dirks hit .328 with six homers and 20 RBIs in 34 games with the Hens.
Dirks said his first taste of the major leagues was an amazing experience.
"It's something you work your whole life to get to, and when it happens it's pretty special," he said. "We were in a pennant race, the fans were great, and it was just a great experience.
"And when you're in a pennant race, truly playing for something, that makes it even more exciting. There is a little more emotion. When you get a big hit [in that situation], they're just a little bit bigger."
ROSTER SHUFFLE: Since the Mud Hens left town on Aug. 11, the team has fought through 24 transactions involving 20 players.
To put that number in perspective, since Louisville left Toledo that same day, the Bats have made just four changes to their roster.
Before Saturday's game there were six Toledo transactions, including Dirks coming to the Hens and Inge going to Detroit, while left-hander Shawn Teufel returned to Hi-A Lakeland to make room for Saturday's starter, right-hander Trevor Feeney.
The third move involved infielder Audy Ciriaco coming to the Hens to replace outfielder Clete Thomas, who was placed on the disabled list with a broken finger.
Nevin said Ciriaco, who has made two brief appearances with the Hens the previous two seasons, will replace Argenis Diaz as Toledo's everyday shortstop.
"Ciriaco will play [shortstop] the majority of the time," Nevin said. "We need to see what he can do here, and we've only got two weeks left."
CLOSER CHANGES: Many of the changes to the Toledo roster since the last home game have involved the pitching staff, which lost potential closers Chance Ruffin and Lester Oliveros to trades by the Tigers.
On Friday night in Buffalo Enrique Gonzalez came within one strike of earning his tenth save, but instead gave up a game-tying single in the bottom of the ninth and later the eventual game-winning home run in the 11th.
Nevin said that Gonzalez remains his team's closer despite stubbing his toe Friday.
"In my opinion, he saved the game," Nevin said of Gonzalez. "He threw a pitch we thought was strike three. The next pitch was a blooper for a base hit that tied the game.
"He battled to cover two more innings, and the home run was a pitch he got up. He really only made one bad pitch [on the home run to Val Pascucci]. When he's available, he's the closer -- without a doubt."
It's worth noting that, even though the Hens haven't settled on one closer this season, Friday's loss marked the first time the Mud Hens lost a game in which they were leading entering the ninth inning.
Toledo was 47-0 in those situations before Friday's loss.
Contact John Wagner at: jwagner@theblade.com or 419-724-6481.
First Published August 21, 2011, 4:41 a.m.
