SEATTLE – Victor Martinez hopes he needs just a few days to rest his sore groin.
Detroit manager Jim Leyland is already thinking the Tigers might be without their new slugger for longer.
"If I just need three days I'll be happy, but it's pretty sore right now," Martinez said. "I don't know. I'll just take it day by day and see what happens."
Brandon Inge scored the go-ahead run on a wild pitch from Seattle Mariners reliever Josh Lueke in the seventh inning, Jhonny Peralta added a bases-loaded triple and the Tigers rallied late for an 8-3 victory Monday night.
Max Scherzer remained unbeaten and Detroit scored six times in the seventh, sending 10 batters to the plate while capitalizing on another bullpen meltdown by the Mariners.
But the bigger concern was the status of Martinez, who left in the second inning with a strained right groin after he singled to right field. Martinez tweaked his groin in his final at-bat Saturday night against Oakland, then sat out Sunday as a precaution.
On Monday night, Martinez was noticeably uncomfortable as he jogged down to first base. He said it started to bother him earlier in the at-bat, but by the time Martinez advanced to second on Brennan Boesch's RBI single, Leyland had seen enough and pulled Martinez, who walked slowly back to the dugout.
He's expected to undergo further examination Tuesday. Leyland said he needed to talk with general manager Dave Dombrowski before deciding what the next move would be.
"I'm sure we're going to have to do something," Leyland said.
Martinez wasn't needed in the Tigers' seventh inning when Seattle's bullpen struggled.
Inge led off with a single to left, went to second on a sacrifice bunt and moved to third on Ryan Raburn's single. Lueke (1-1) then dumped a slider in the dirt that catcher Miguel Olivo couldn't keep from going to the backstop, allowing Inge to score.
Miguel Cabrera singled on a 3-0 pitch for a two-run lead, then Chris Ray took over and fared no better. Ray walked Casper Wells and saw pinch-runner Ramon Santiago score on yet another wild pitch that Olivo couldn't backhand.
After Boesch was intentionally walked to load the bases, Peralta cracked a drive to center field that Ryan Langerhans couldn't catch up with. The inning finally ended when Ray struck out Alex Avila and got a popout from Inge.
Lueke and Ray combined to throw 44 pitches in the seventh, tossing just 16 strikes, allowing four hits, three walks and two wild pitches.
"That seventh inning got ugly there," Seattle manager Eric Wedge said. "Lueke and Ray just didn't have it today. They got behind and then came in and that is where it got away from us."
Cabrera also showed he's still got some wheels, scoring from first base on Boesch's double into the left-field corner in the sixth. Cabrera was waved home after Seattle left fielder Milton Bradley misplayed the ball.
Scherzer (3-0) nearly matched his previous two outings by going six innings and giving up two runs. He walked four and struck out seven, but Leyland would have liked to see Scherzer be more efficient with his pitches early and be able to go another inning or two.
"A guy like Max should get you into the seventh or eighth inning all the time," Leyland said.
Scherzer's only mistake was a two-run homer by Bradley in the third, a 2-1 pitch that Bradley drove to right-center. The right-hander also benefited from Seattle's own ineptitude in the fifth, when the Mariners failed to score after putting two on with no outs.
NOTES: Raburn hit a foul ball in the first inning that glanced off a large beam holding up the Safeco Field roof above the third-base dugout. It's the first ball in the almost 12-year-history of the stadium to hit any part of the retractable roof. ... Olivo got his first hit at Safeco Field this season in the sixth inning, snapping an 0-for-18 skid. ... Justin Smoak homered leading off the eighth for Seattle, his second of the season.
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