OF Mikie Mahtook (sore left groin) missed his second straight start Sunday. He was a late scratch from the lineup Saturday. INF Andrew Romine played left field in his place both times. Mahtook could return for the series against the Cleveland Indians that opens Monday at Progressive Field.

OF Mikie Mahtook (sore left groin) was a late scratch from the game against the Toronto Blue Jays on Saturday. Mahtook?s place in left field was taken by INF Andrew Romine. Mahtook is batting .276 with 11 homers and 34 RBIs this season.

TORONTO -- Detroit Tigers left fielder Mikie Mahtook was a late scratch from Saturday's game against the Toronto Blue Jays because of a sore left groin.Andrew Romine played in left field in place of Mahtook.Mahtook is batting .276 with 11 homers and 34 RBIs this season, Romine entered the game batting .238 with four homers and 21 RBIs.

CF Mikie Mahtook went 2-for-4 with his 14th double and 10th homer in Tuesday's loss to Colorado. The 10 homers are a single-season and career-high for Mahtook, who hit nine homers with Tampa Bay in 2015. In 67 games since June 1, Mahtook is hitting .304 (69-for-227) with 10 doubles, five triples, eight homers, 24 RBIs and 37 runs scored.

CF Mikie Mahtook was out of the lineup on Wednesday. He entered the lopsided game in the last inning but did not bat. Mahtook has gone hitless in his last 13 at-bats and 3-for-25 in his last six starts. His average has dropped from .306 to .288 during that span. Andrew Romine filled in for him in center field.

CF Mikie Mahtook has gone hitless in his last 13 at-bats. He's just 3-for-25 over the last six games. Mahtook became an everyday starter shortly after the All-Star break. He has at least two at-bats in all but one game since he sat out the first game after the break. His batting average has dropped to .288 after climbing as high as .306.

RF Mikie Mahtook may be shifting between center and right a lot as the season winds down. Mahtook began Saturday's game in right but shifted to center after RF Alex Presley pinch-hit for starting CF JaCoby Jones, who may see a lot of game time so the Tigers can evaluate what progress, if any, he has made this season.

CF Mikie Mahtook went 2-for-3 with a two-run home run, two walks and two runs in Detroit's 12-6 loss to Texas on Wednesday. In 57 games since June 1, he is hitting .340 with 33 runs, seven home runs and 22 RBIs.

CF Mikie Mahtook had a three-hit game Saturday night to make it five straight games in which he has had at least two hits. "I'm just trying to stay within my approach," he said. "Kind of letting the game come to it." Mahtook doubled and scored in the first, tripled and scored in the seventh and singled leading off the ninth, coming home on LF Justin Upton's game-winning two-run homer. "He's been having great at-bats for three months," manager Brad Ausmus said. "He's a first-round pick so everyone knew the ability was in there. From our perspective it's a little bit of a pleasant surprise that he's been swinging the bat this consistently now for a few months."

CF Mikie Mahtook is making a bid to remove "Who's the center fielder in 2018?" from the Detroit Tigers' list of off-season questions. Mahtook hit his eighth home run, in the first inning, and later added a single for his fourth straight game of two or more hits. That has pulled his batting average up to .298 for 77 games this season. He's played solid defense and is showing a little more power as he gets regular playing time.

OF Mikie Mahtook singled in his first two at-bats Saturday to notch his 12th multi-hit game of the season. All 12 have come since June 2. In 21 games since the All-Star break in early July, Mahtook is hitting .324.

CF Mikie Mahtook was hit in the helmet by RHP Tommy Kahnle in the sixth inning of Monday night's game against the Yankees. He fell to the ground as his helmet came off but stayed in the game after getting briefly checked out by a trainer and manager Brad Ausmus. It was the second time Mahtook was hit by a pitch Monday. "It hit me, I guess it didn't hit me as flush. I didn't feel any head pain, there's no dizziness," Mahtook said. "I guess I got real lucky avoiding it at the right time and it hitting the helmet just the right way."

CF Mikie Mahtook continues to give some life to Detroit's offense as the de facto regular center fielder, with manager Brad Ausmus moving him around in the batting order to take advantage of matchups. Mahtook doubled leading off the third, although he didn't score, but he walked with two out in the fifth and scored on a double into the left field corner by SS Jose Iglesias.

CF Mikie Mahtook extended his career-best hitting streak to 11 games with a fifth-inning single on Wednesday. He also scored one of the Tigers' two runs. In the month of July, Mahtook is batting .352 with three doubles, two triples, two homers, seven RBI and 11 runs scored. He has raised his average from .263 to .296 during that span. Mahtook has become the team's everyday center fielder after four other players started at least 15 games at that position.

CF Mikie Mahtook extended his career-best hitting streak to 10 games with a fourth-inning triple on Tuesday. Mahtook has become the regular centerfielder, in part because he's proving he can hit righthanders. He's batting .305 with three homers in 95 at-bats against righties this season. He hit .192 with three homers in 156 at-bats against righthanders in two seasons with Tampa Bay. "He's been much stronger against righties than his past major-league record would indicate," manager Brad Ausmus said. "That's a credit to him."

OF Mikie Mahtook recorded his second triple of the season on Friday as he had two hits against Minnesota. Mahtook was shaken up early in the game as he twisted his ankle sliding back to second on a play. But Mahtook stayed in the game and showed no ill effects later as he hit the triple. He has hit safely in six straight games.

CF Mikie Mahtook hit a two-run homer in the ninth to give the Tigers a short-lived 3-2 lead. The last Tiger to hit a go-ahead home run in the ninth was J.D. Martinez on Sept. 16, 2014, a three-run shot at Minnesota.

CF Mikie Mahtook seems to have taken ahold of the starting center field job for Detroit. Manager Brad Ausmus has written him down as the starting center field in the last eight games. Mahtook gives the Tigers solid if not spectacular defense and has contributed some timely hits. He beat out a chop

CF Mikie Mahtook helped the Tigers offensively and defensively in a 5-3 win on Tuesday. He had two hits and scored a run and also made a spectacular leaping grab to rob Kansas City catcher Salvador Perez of an extra-base hit in the fifth inning. Mahtook has started mainly against left-handers but could see his role expand. "He's definitely given us better at-bats," manager Brad Ausmus said. "He's played well in center. He might get a few more looks against right-handed pitchers."

CF Mikie Mahtook was 2-for-5 Sunday with his first triple since 2015 and three RBIs. He was 4-for-13 on the road trip after having his career-best, nine-game hitting streak (11-for-27) stopped last Sunday.