The medical report on Sean Casey says he has a small partial tear of the fassa muscle in the back of his left calf. He’ll be treated today and Thursday, then re-evaluated Friday. There’s a slight chance he could be available if the series comes back here for Game 6, but Leyland considers that to be a miracle case. Under most circumstances, Leyland siad, it’s a 10-day injury.

As for replacing him, Neifi Perez is starting at short with Carlos Guillen at first. The lineup looks quite a bit different …

1. Granderson, CF
2. Perez, SS
3. Polanco, 2B
4. Ordonez, RF
5. Guillen, SS
6. Rodriguez, C
7. Monroe, LF
8. Gomez, DH
9. Inge, 3B

As for starting Perez at short, Leyalnd said he’s 3-for-10 against Loaiza, compared to 2-for-18 for Loaiza. Though Omar Infante wasn’t considered for the start, Leyland said he could take a look at him if the offense struggles. Gomez is starting over Thames to get another left-handed batter in against Loaiza.

To me, the biggest question for the Tigers getting through at least this series and without Sean Casey isn’t so much in the field. There aren’t a whole lot of options there other than moving Guillen to first and starting one of the middle infielders, in this case apparently Neifi Perez. You lose something defensively there, especially on double plays with Neifi, but there’s not much you can do about that.

What I’ll be interested to see is how manager Jim Leyland fills Casey’s spot in the lineup. He was the left-handed bat in the most important spot, the guy who kept the middle of the order alternating left-right against right-handed pitchers. Plus, he’s a patient guy in that third spot, and even when he isn’t hitting well, he knows how to make a pitcher come over the plate.

Is this the time Leyland takes a chance moving Guillen out of that fifth spot and into third? I doubt it. He’s had all of his success in that spot, and I think Leyland loves the idea of Guillen batting behind Ordonez to make pitchers throw strikes to Magglio. Not even Guillen’s 11-for-16 history against Esteban Loaiza is probably going to get him out of that slot.

Take away Guillen as an option to hit third, and your possibilities look like Pudge, Monroe and Thames. Pudge makes the most sense since he has done it before, plus he’s 8-for-21 off Loaiza, but you have to hope he can be patient in RBI opportunities and not chase pitches out of excitement. If Leyland didn’t want to hit Monroe second last night, it’s hard to see him wanting to bat Monroe third against Loaiza, off whom he’s 1-for-12. Thames is 0-for-5 off Loaiza.

The other thing about Pudge is that, at least this year, he seems to rise to the challenge given to him. He batted leadoff in a tough spot over the summer and started the game with a 10-pitch walk. He filled in for Polanco at second base that night in Boston and looked like he had done it before. And what understandably got lost on the final day of the regular season is that Pudge went 3-for-3 with three walks in that game to hit .300 for the year. He’s not a patient hitter, he gets frustrated, all that. But when he puts his mind to something, there isn’t a whole lot you can say for sure that he can’t do.

If Loaiza comes out pitching the way he did last week against the Twins, it might not matter. It’ll be interesting to see.