KANSAS CITY -- Freddy Garcia's road back to the big leagues began Saturday night with two scoreless innings for Class A Lakeland in the Tigers farm system.

Garcia scattered three singles with a walk and a strikeout in his start for the Flying Tigers on Saturday at Dunedin. All three hits came in his second inning of work, including a bunt single, but he escaped with help from a double play.

It marked the first game action for Garcia since last summer, when a Minor League rehab stint in the Phillies organization proved him unable to come back from his right shoulder injury. He ended up undergoing season-ending surgery that left him in rehab mode until earlier this month, when he began pitching off of a mound again and threw a side session in front of scouts from about 15 Major League teams.

Tigers third baseman Carlos Guillen, a close friend of Garcia who talks with him daily, said Garcia was positive about Saturday's outing.

"He felt good," Guillen said Sunday morning. "He threw strikes."

Garcia, a 117-game winner over nine years in the big leagues, signed a Minor League contract with the Tigers a week and a half ago to try to get in some innings before the season ends, possibly in the Majors in September. The deal came with no guarantee that would happen, but the Tigers decided to take a look at him with a chance that he could be in their pitching picture for 2009 if he's healthy.

Team president/general manager Dave Dombrowski said Sunday that Garcia will make his next outing for Triple-A Toledo on Wednesday, August 27.