The Tigers got mixed reviews from a pair of players on rehab assignments, both of whom strolled into the locker room at Comerica Park before Friday's game.

On the shelf with rotator cuff tendinitis since July 7, Downs threw one inning at Class A West Michigan on Thursday, and is headed to Triple-A Toledo to continue his assignment before returning to the Tigers.

The news on Omar Infante was not as cheery.

The second baseman, sidelined by a bad ankle since July 4, played two rehab games at West Michigan, but came out of Thursday’s after feeling pain in his still-healing ankle in the second inning.

“It stings in the same spot,” Infante said. “That’s why came out yesterday. I tried to run hard and I felt pain.”

He was in Detroit Friday to be examined by the Tigers’ doctors.

“Doesn’t bother him fielding, doesn’t bother him hitting, but it did bother him trying to go full speed,” Rand said. “So he felt like it wasn’t quite ready to go full speed yet. So we brought him back, obviously reevaluate him. We’ve gotta get that other part back. We’ve gotta be able to get him to run full speed.”

After making the trip with the team to Chicago before starting his rehab stint, Infante had thought he’d be ready to come back as soon as this weekend.

That chance looks remote now.

“I think one more week or two more weeks I feel better, y’know. It’ll make my ankle stronger. That’s what the trainers told me,” said Infante, who admitted the ankle still doesn’t feel great when he pushes off on defense, either, although the pain doesn’t show up when he’s strolling around the locker room.

“I felt better (in Chicago). But I tried to run hard and then I felt the pain. But I can hit good. I can swing and do everything without pain. But when I tried to run hard that’s when I felt it. ... When there’s pressure and I’m reacting explosive, that’s when I feel it.”