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MLB DETROIT — Detroit Tigers manager A. J. Hinch met with veteran right-hander Charlie Morton away from the ballpark Saturday evening to deliver difficult news: The Tigers have designated Morton for assignment. Morton, 41, had a 7. 09 ERA since coming to the Tigers at the trade deadline. His most recent outing was his biggest blowup yet. Morton surrendered six earned runs and lasted only 1 1/3 innings as the Tigers’ late-season free fall continued. Advertisement In Morton’s place, the Tigers selected the contract of right-hander Tanner Rainey, who has a 5. 44 ERA in 209 major-league games. “I love the man, and he gave us what he could, ” Hinch said. “We don’t have the time to sort it out over the next week as we push forward for more wins. Given that he wasn’t going to pitch and we’re getting towards the end of the line … we made the move to strengthen our pen for today and into the next series. ” Hinch has known Morton since 2017, when Morton signed with Hinch’s Houston Astros. The two developed a close relationship, and Morton recorded the final out of the 2017 World Series. Hinch said his conversation with Morton on Saturday lasted nearly two hours. In his 18th season, Morton compiled a 5. 89 ERA with the Tigers and Baltimore Orioles, leaving real questions about what his future holds. The Tigers might have considered moving Morton to a bullpen role and could have designated another struggling pitcher for assignment to accommodate such a move, such as fellow deadline acquisition Chris Paddack. The Tigers, though, were troubled by the erosion of Morton’s command and ultimately made the decision to move on. “We talked about it all day yesterday amongst the group, the staff in the office, ” Hinch said. “When we started to wonder about his strike-throwing, it became questionable on how we can deploy that. Do you bank on the experience all of a sudden clicking for him as the innings only get more and more important? Or do you look at it through the lens of reality and what we’re seeing? ” In Rainey, the Tigers add a 32-year-old power arm whose fastball averages 95 mph and who throws his slider about 50 percent of the time. Rainey — who was released by the Pirates organization earlier this season — has postseason experience and pitched for the Nationals in the 2019 World Series. Rainey had a 2. 66 ERA with the Tigers’ Triple-A affiliate. Advertisement He brings the Tigers a needed ability to generate swing and miss, but has also battled command concerns throughout his career. Rainey has averaged 11. 2 strikeouts per nine innings in his career, but also averages six walks. In Triple A, Rainey’s numbers were similar, but he is coming off five consecutive scoreless outings over which he issued only one walk. “His performance is really what drove him to be the choice, ” Hinch said. “It’s high-end velo. He’s coming right at you. When he’s in the strike zone, he’s hard to hit. He does have some level of attack in his mindset, which I love. He’s kind of got the bullpen mentality. ” The Tigers are getting increasingly desperate for pitching as their AL Central lead has dwindled to one game over the surging Cleveland Guardians. On Sunday, that meant moving on from Morton. “Personally, it meant a lot for me to do it face-to-face with him, ” Hinch said of his conversation with Morton. “We got to reminisce about a lot of times together that no one else will probably care about except for me and him and some teammates and some fans back in the day. If I ever get used to delivering that kind of news, then I’m in the wrong business, especially (with) somebody as quality of a human as Charlie. ” (Top photo: Junfu Han/USA Today Network) Spot the pattern. Connect the terms Find the hidden link between sports terms Play today's puzzle Cody Stavenhagen is a staff writer covering the Detroit Tigers and Major League Baseball for The Athletic. Previously, he covered Michigan football at The Athletic and Oklahoma football and basketball for the Tulsa World, where he was named APSE Beat Writer of the Year for his circulation group in 2016. He is a native of Amarillo, Texas. Follow Cody on Twitter @Cody Stavenhagen