The Tampa Bay Rays’ Brett Phillips, right, steals second base ahead of the tag by Detroit Tigers shortstop Javier Baez during the seventh inning Wednesday in St. Petersburg, Fla. (AP photo)

Rodriguez (1-3) lasted just one out and averaged 91.9 mph for his fastball, 2.4 mph below his season average. He left the mound with Tigers head athletic trainer Doug Teter.

“His left side is bothersome,” manager AJ Hinch said. “It got worse during his warmup. He tried to go out there, and you could tell he was off. He’ll be out for a bit. Likely IL.”

Rodriguez allowed three runs, four hits and two walks, throwing just 11 of 23 pitches for strikes. After signing a $77 million, five-year contract, he has a 4.38 ERA.

Among the Tigers rotation at the start of the season, Casey Mize, Matt Manning and Tyler Alexander already have spent time on the IL.

First base umpire Angel Hernandez gestures during the seventh inning of a game between the Tampa Bay Rays and Detroit Tigers on Wednesday in St. Petersburg, Fla. (AP photo)

“Nobody’s going to feel sorry or us,” Hinch said. “We’ve got to play better. We’ve got to hit better. We’ve got to play more up-tempo. We’ve got to get in the strike zone. I could keep going for a while. We’ve got a lot more to do than piecing together the rotation.”

Drew Rasmussen (4-1) allowed four hits in five shutout innings with seven strikeouts and no walks, improving to 4-0 with a 1.01 ERA in his last five starts. Matt Wisler, Colin Poche and J.P. Feyereisen finished, with Feyereisen striking out two in the ninth during his 15th straight scoreless appearance.

Paredes, traded by the Tigers for Austin Meadows on April 5, hit solo home runs in the third off Rony García and in the eighth against Wily Peralta.

Paredes hit one home run each in 2020 and 2021 for the Tigers.

“Like I’ve said before, I want to beat them. I want to play against them,” he said. “But I’m just giving 100% of the skill that I have, and I’m just very fortunate to be here and have the opportunity to be able to play against them.”

Spencer Torkelson homered in the seventh off Wisler and has a team-high four home runs for the Tigers, who have hit a major league-low 20 homers in 38 games.