Dioner Navarro’s sacrifice bunt surprises, well, the Dodgers

Detroit Tigers starter Rick Porcello was on the ropes.

The first three Dodgers to face him in the fourth inning reached base, with Marcus Thames driving in Matt Kemp to cut the Dodgers’ deficit to 5-3.

Considering the circumstances, were you surprised to see Dioner Navarro put down a sacrifice bunt there with two on and no outs?

If you were, you weren’t alone.

“When he bunted, it surprised me,” Dodgers Manager Don Mattingly said.

Navarro said he thought he had seen a bunt sign.

“I didn’t want to bunt there with him,” Mattingly said. “He’s swinging the bat pretty well.”

Navarro had hit a home run three days earlier.

In this instance, Navarro’s obedience worked against him. He said he never questioned the sign he thought he saw.

“I’m here to do whatever they ask me to do,” he said.

The wasted out might have been the difference in the Dodgers’ 7-5 loss to the Tigers.

In the at-bat that followed Navarro’s, Jamey Carroll flied out to right field. James Loney tagged up from third base but was thrown out at the plate by Magglio Ordonez.

Broxton makes progress

Mattingly said he was encouraged by the details of Jonathan Broxton’s appearance with triple-A Albuquerque on Tuesday.

What most pleased Mattingly were the reports on Broxton’s velocity. Mattingly said the closer’s fastball was clocked from 94 to 96 mph.

“He was averaging 95,” Mattingly said.

Broxton has been on the disabled list since May 4 because of a bruised elbow.

Mattingly said that when Broxton returns, he won’t immediately be put back in the closer’s role.

“It’s hard to just bring a guy back and throw him right in that ninth-inning spot,” Mattingly said. “I think we’ll try to get him into some games, get him comfortable out on the mound and see where he’s at then and go from there.”

Barajas is relieved

Dodgers catcher Rod Barajas said that when he sprained his right ankle Saturday night, he initially thought the worst.

“You hear about guys hearing a popping sound,” Barajas said. “That’s something I never experienced before. On that play, I heard the pop. To hear that pop, we felt it could be pretty bad.”

To his relief, he was wrong.

Barajas has been able to get out of his protective boot and play catch.

He said he is hopeful he can be activated from the disabled list when his 15 days are up, but was unsure whether he could come back without playing in some minor league games first.

“Being a catcher, the squatting is what’s going to be tough,” he said.

Cuban embargo

Asked whether he would like to work under Mark Cuban, Mattingly didn’t want to answer.

“I don’t know,” Mattingly said.

The owner of the NBA champion Dallas Mavericks, Cuban told TMZ that he would consider purchasing the Dodgers under the right conditions.

Although Mattingly didn’t want to talk about how Cuban has spent lavishly to improve his basketball team, he did express an admiration for the Mavericks.

“The Mavericks, obviously, over the years, it’s kind of cool because it seems like they have high expectations,” Mattingly said. “There’s excitement around their franchise.”

dylan.hernandez@latimes.com