by Grand Rapid Press

Alfredo Figaro (1-1, 7.36 ERA) was sent to Toledo after making his second start Saturday night. He struggled in an 8-1 loss to the Houston Astros.

Nate Robertson was placed on the disabled list Sunday morning with a fibrous tissue mass in his left elbow, and

Fu-Te Ni was called up from Toledo to take his place in the bullpen. Both are left-handers.

Ni becomes only the sixth player from Taiwan to reach the major leagues.

French was 2-1 with a 1.66 ERA in his past six starts at Toledo and had 41 strikeouts in 43 innings. He's 4-4 with a 2.98 ERA at Triple-A. He pitched three scoreless innings in relief for Detroit in two games against the Oakland A's in May.

Tigers manager Jim Leyland said he was a consideration when the right-handed Figaro was called up, and suggested he could mix and match the pair as the fifth starter.

He planned to use French in relief in Oakland before heading to Minnesota, whose two biggest bats are left-handed Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau.

"Morneau and Mauer hit left-handers just as well, though," Leyland said.

Robertson had been ineffective this month, and his ERA went from 4.20 on June 2 to 7.71 after nine games in which he gave up 11 earned runs on 13 hits in six innings.

Tigers trainer Kevin Rand said the mass had been in Robertson's elbow for some time, and had begun affecting his ability to grip the Baseball.

"He had numbness and tingling in his little and ring fingers," said Rand, adding that the mass was pressing on the ulnar nerve.

Ni flourishes at Toledo

Ni, who pitched in the World Baseball Classic, made strides after Detroit sent him to the Toledo Mud Hens late in spring training. He was 3-0 with a 2.60 ERA in 24 games, striking out 32 and walking nine in 34 innings.

"We've heard he's locating his fastball and that his breaking ball has improved," Tigers bullpen coach Jeff Jones said. "The thing we talked about was improving his breaking ball, and according to what we hear, it's got (good) break."

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