ARLINGTON, Texas -- Kenny Rogers very likely made his last appearance as a Detroit Tiger on Sunday night in Chicago.
"I'm not going to pitch Kenny," Detroit manager Jim Leyland said Monday. "I'm going to shut Kenny down for the rest of the season. We had a nice talk after the game yesterday."
Rogers pitched four solid innings against the White Sox, but Leyland had to take him out during a five-run fifth inning. The Chicago fans serenaded him with their usual chorus for departing opposing pitchers: "Nah-nah-nah, nah-nah-nah, hey-hey-hey, good-bye!"
The veteran of 20 seasons and 762 major league games removed his cap upon reaching the dugout, walked down the steps and was done.
He arrived at the Tigers clubhouse 50 minutes before Monday's game and declined interviews. But after his final Comerica Park start, which lasted only two innings against the Angels, Rogers said, "I've got to pitch myself into coming back."
Rogers, 43 and a free agent after this season, is 9-13 with a 5.70 ERA. He pitched well until the bottom fell out July 28, and he's 1-7 with a 9.00 ERA since.
But it has been quite a career for Rogers, who is 219-156 with a 4.27 ERA. He has a major-league record 94 pickoffs, is a four-time All-Star, has won five Gold Gloves, and is 18th on the all-time list for wins by a left-handed pitcher.
He pitched a perfect game for the Texas Rangers on July 28, 1994 against the Angels, and will long be remembered for his 23 scoreless innings for the Tigers in the 2006 postseason. Rogers was 3-0, winning Detroit's only World Series game against St. Louis.
Sheffield closes in on No. 500
Gary Sheffield's three-run homer, No. 497 in his career, provided a 4-0 lead that would not be nearly enough Monday in an 11-8 loss. But it left him within three homers of one of baseball's most important career milestones.
The homer gave him 1,629 RBIs, and moved him ahead of Harold Baines for 27th on the all-time RBI list.
Bullpen struggles again
Gary Glover had been nearly perfect in his last six outings, allowing no runs on two hits in 8 1/3 innings. But he gave up a single, walk and hit a batter to load the bases in the sixth. Then rookie catcher Taylor Teagarden hit a 412-foot grand slam to center to make it 7-5 for the Rangers.
"It was a decent pitch below the knees and out of the zone," Glover said, "but he hit it out. The one pitch that cost me wasn't even in the strike zone. He just golfed it out of the park. If I could have anything back, it would be the four on the walk."
Detroit battled back to tie the score and then take an 8-7 lead in the top of the eighth inning. But then Kyle Farnsworth, who served up the deciding grand slam Sunday night in Chicago, had a disastrous bottom of the eighth.
He gave up four runs, with a two-run triple by Marlon Byrd making it 11-7.
"That's happened way too often this year," Leyland said. "It's a downer, obviously. We've let too many leads get away and that hurts your team more than anything."
Leyland was ejected by home plate umpire Eric Cooper after they argued following Cooper's slow determination that Glover had hit Max Ramirez, who repeatedly showed the mark on his arm from the ball to Cooper. And then Cooper appealed to first base umpire Angel Hernandez before determining Ramirez should take first base.
Leyland said the call was right, but he took exception with the pace with which it was made.
Tigers head athletic trainer Kevin Rand said third baseman Carlos Guillen will today take his first pre-game batting practice since last playing Aug. 25. Guillen had a pinched nerve and back spasms, and said he can swing better left-handed than right-handed.
"He's making strides but it has been slow progress," Rand said.
Shortstop Edgar Renteria didn't start Monday with a tight left pectoral muscle. He aggravated it in the seventh inning of Sunday night's game and was removed. Rand said his status was day-to-day.
Odds & ends
Leyland said Armando Galarraga and Justin Verlander will pitch Friday and Saturday, respectively, at Cleveland, while Dontrelle Willis gets his second comeback start Sunday. ... Verlander (10-16) is tied for the most losses in the majors with San Francisco's Barry Zito and Cincinnati's Aaron Harang.