Tigers, Blue Jays trending in opposite directions after break
The Toronto Blue Jays didn't cool off in their first road game since the All-Star break, rolling to an 11-4 victory over the Detroit Tigers on Thursday.
The teams will play the second game of a four-game series on Friday night.
Toronto was held scoreless until the sixth, then racked up all of its runs in a three-inning span. The Blue Jays, who had a 10-game winning streak shortly before the break, have won six of seven games since the Mid-Summer Classic.
'These guys have been relentless,' Toronto manager John Schneider said. 'I've heard a lot of talk about us being a gritty team that isn't sustainable. I think the exact opposite. I think we're gritty as hell, but I think a lot of the stuff that we're doing is going to lead to a lot of wins.'
Jose Berrios (6-4, 3.87 ERA), who will start for the Blue Jays on Friday, has a 2-1 record in four July starts despite a 7.11 ERA. He collected a victory on Sunday against the San Francisco Giants despite being charged with four runs on eight hits in 5 2/3 innings.
Berrios was pulled after just three innings in his previous outing, when he allowed four runs and five hits against the Athletics. Before that, he posted eight quality starts in 10 outings.
The veteran right-hander is 7-3 with a 4.23 ERA in 16 career appearances (15 starts) against Detroit. He had a no-decision against the Tigers on May 18 after giving up two runs and eight hits in six innings.
Detroit's Keider Montero (4-2, 4.28 ERA) will make his 15th appearance and ninth start of the season. Montero has gotten plenty of chances to seize the No. 5 spot in the rotation, vacated when prized rookie Jackson Jobe required Tommy John surgery, but hasn't secured it.
Following a sharp six-inning stint against Tampa Bay on July 7, Montero gave up three runs and five hits in three-plus innings against the Seattle Mariners on July 12. In his first post-All-Star-break outing, Montero allowed four runs, four hits and three walks in 4 1/3 innings against the Texas Rangers on Saturday.
The second-year right-hander faced Toronto once last season, surrendering five runs and eight hits in 5 1/3 innings.
The Tigers still hold an eight-game lead in the American League Central but they are playing more like cellar-dwellers. They have lost 10 of their last 11 games, including four straight. Detroit is 1-6 since the break, having scored just 13 runs during that span.
The Tigers were limited to a Jahmai Jones solo homer on Thursday until they scored three meaningless runs in the ninth.
The team and its fans were spoiled by a glorious three months, and now the club is dealing with adversity for the first time this season.
'You know, it's been 11 days, but it feels like it's been a lot longer, and I think maybe that's because of the (All-Star) break,' Tigers manager A.J. Hinch said. 'A lot of it is just the way that baseball is. We can choose to bring that garbage into tomorrow, or we can reset and get back after it.
'I know this team, I know the conversation around it over the last couple weeks. We've got to piece it back together.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Winnipeg Free Press
23 minutes ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Tomoyuki Sugano throws 6 sharp innings, Tyler O'Neill homers again to help Orioles beat Rockies
BALTIMORE (AP) — Tomoyuki Sugano pitched six innings of four-hit ball, Tyler O'Neill homered in a third straight game and the Baltimore Orioles beat the Colorado Rockies 5-1 on Sunday. Dylan Carlson drove in two runs for the Orioles, who followed Saturday night's 18-0 blowout with a more conventional victory in the deciding matchup of a three-game series between last-place clubs. Sugano (8-5) gave up one run, walked two and matched his career high with eight strikeouts. The 35-year-old righty, who signed a one-year contract with Baltimore in December, could be headed to a contender before Friday's trade deadline. Although he was impressive on Sunday, Sugano has yielded 21 homers in 20 games and had a 7.88 ERA over his previous seven starts. RED SOX 4, DODGERS 3 BOSTON (AP) — Alex Bregman hit a go-ahead, two-run homer in the fifth inning and Boston hung on to beat Los Angeles for a series win. Rookie Roman Anthony added an RBI triple for the Red Sox, who captured their first series since the All-Star break. Boston had a 10-game winning streak entering the break. Boston closer Aroldis Chapman walked off the mound with an apparent injury in the eighth inning. In to face the top of the Dodgers' order, his velocity was noticeably down to the mid-90 mph on his fastball instead of the high 90s to low 100s. Michael Conforto hit a solo homer and had two doubles for the Dodgers. PIRATES 6, DIAMONDBACKS 0 PITTSBURGH (AP) — Paul Skenes struck out nine and gave up three hits in six innings, Oneil Cruz and Ke'Bryan Hayes drove in two runs each, and Pittsburgh shut out Arizona for the second straight game. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Skenes (6-8) is the first pitcher to have an ERA below 2 through his first 45 starts. The reigning NL Rookie of the Year sits at 1.89 for his career and 1.83 this year, which leads the majors. Skenes is the only starter this season who hasn't allowed a first-inning run. He struck out two in the first, including Geraldo Perdomo, who hadn't fanned in a league-best 39 straight at-bats. Gallen (7-12) allowed four runs on five hits in six innings. Arizona scored one run in the three-game series, winning 1-0 in 11 innings Friday night. YANKEES 4, PHILLIES 3 NEW YORK (AP) — Ryan McMahon sparked a comeback with a tying, two-run double in a four-run second inning against Zack Wheeler, and New York beat Philadelphia to salvage the finale of a three-game series. Phillies catcher J.T. Realmuto made a spectacular leaping grab and tag of Cody Bellinger at the plate for an inning-ending double play that denied the Yankees a run in the third. Austin Wells hit a go-ahead sacrifice fly and Trent Grisham an RBI single against Wheeler (9-4), who tied his career high with three hit batters — including two in a row in the second. Rookie Otto Kemp had his first big league multi-homer game and Nick Castellanos also went deep as the Phillies hit three solo shots off Carlos Rodón (11-8), who allowed four hits in 5 1/3 innings. Jonathan Loáisiga, Luke Weaver, Tim Hill and Devin Williams combined for one-hit shutout relief, with Williams striking out two in a perfect ninth for his 16th save in 17 chances. Yankees relievers entered with a big league-worst 7.11 ERA since June 28. New York stopped a three-game slide ended a sloppy streak of five straight games with errors. REDS 2, RAYS 1 CINCINNATI (AP) — Brady Singer took a shutout into the eighth inning and Cincinnati beat Tampa Bay for its fourth straight victory. Singer (8-8) left after allowing Taylor Walls' one-out homer in the eighth. The right-hander gave up three hits and a walk and struck out eight in his longest outing of the season. Tony Santillan got the final two outs in the eighth. Emilio Pagán pitched the ninth for his 22nd save in 25 opportunities. Rays starter Shane Baz (8-7) gave up singles to TJ Friedl and Matt McLain leading off the first. Baz struck out Elly De La Cruz on three pitches, but Friedl scored from second on an infield hit by Austin Hays. McLain and Hays pulled off a double steal before McLain scored on Gavin Lux's groundout for a 2-0 lead. Baz gave up two runs on five hits in five innings — losing his fourth straight start. Tampa Bay has lost four straight and 10 of 13 to fall to 53-53. TIGERS 10, BLUE JAYS 4 DETROIT (AP) — Jack Flaherty pitched six scoreless innings, Gleyer Torres hit a three-run homer and Detroit ended a six-game losing streak with a victory over Toronto. Detroit had lost 12 of its past 13 games. Toronto fell to 8-2 since the All-Star break. Flaherty (6-10) allowed a double and four singles. He struck out seven and walked one to end a seven-start winless streak. Max Scherzer (1-1), pitching on his 41st birthday, fell to 2-3 in five career starts against his former team. He allowed three hits in seven innings, including Torres' homer, and struck out 11 without issuing a walk. The Tigers put the game away with seven runs in the eighth inning, including six with two out. Toronto scored four runs in the ninth off reliever Luke Jackson, who was making his Tigers debut. Bo Bichette had five of Toronto's 10 hits, extending his on-base streak to 19 games. ROYALS 4, GUARDIANS 1 KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Noah Cameron escaped a bases-loaded jam in the first before tossing five innings of three-hit ball, Maikel Garcia homered for the second time in three games, and Kansas City beat Cleveland. Garcia finished with two RBIs, and Vinnie Pasquantino and Luke Maile also drove in runs, while the Kansas City bullpen allowed only Gabriel Arias' homer amid four hits over the final four innings. Carlos Estévez worked around a leadoff double in the ninth for his 27th save. Cameron (5-4) was stingy after the first, when Steven Kwan, Angel Martínez and José Ramírez began the game by loading the bases with nobody out. Cameron rebounded to retire David Fry, Carlos Santana and Arias, then allowed only two baserunners in the next four innings. He also struck out six in another dominant performance. The 26-year-old left-hander from nearby St. Joseph, Missouri, lowered his ERA to 2.44 and has not lost a game since June 27. Joey Cantillo (2-1) lasted only four innings for Cleveland on a hot, humid day in Kansas City. He allowed three runs and three hits and four walks while striking out four in his fifth start since joining the Guardians' rotation. Cantillo had twice faced Kansas City in relief this season, retiring all six he faced and striking out four of them. ATHLETICS 7, ASTROS 1 HOUSTON (AP) — Miguel Andujar and Shea Langeliers homered in the first inning, J.T. Ginn threw six shutout innings and the Athletics beat Houston to sweep the four-game series. Starting in the leadoff spot for the first time in his nine-year career, Andujar homered on Colton Gordon's fifth pitch. With two out, Langeliers sent a 3-0 fastball over the train tracks in left for his 17th home run of the season. Langeliers has homered in three straight games for the first time in his career. He went 2 for 4 with two runs. Ginn (2-2) held the Astros to three hits in his longest start of the season. He struck out four without issuing a walk. Colby Thomas went 1 for 2 with a double and the first RBI of his major league career. NATIONALS 7, TWINS 2 MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — CJ Abrams hit a leadoff homer, stole three bases and scored three runs as Washington beat Minnesota. Nationals starter Jake Irvin (8-5), a Twin Cities native pitching at Target Field for the first time, gave up two runs on five hits over seven innings. Josh Bell went 3 for 4 with an RBI. Matt Wallner homered and Harrison Bader had two hits for Minnesota, which has lost six of nine since the All-Star break. Daylen Lile tripled and scored on Paul DeJong's sacrifice fly in the fourth to put the Nationals on top 3-2. Washington broke it open with four runs in the fifth off Travis Adams (1-1), keyed by Alex Call's two-run single. Abrams hit the first pitch of the game from Twins opener Cole Sands for his 14th home run of the season. CUBS 5, WHITE SOX 4 CHICAGO (AP) — Ben Brown pitched five effective innings, Pete Crow-Armstrong drove in two runs and the Chicago Cubs topped the Chicago White Sox. Nico Hoerner added two hits and a key defensive play as the Cubs won the rubber game in the weekend set. The North Siders went 5-1 in the season series against the South Siders. The Cubs (62-43) remained tied with Milwaukee for first place in the NL Central. They open a three-game series against the Brewers on Monday night. Andrew Benintendi homered twice and drove in four runs for the White Sox (38-68), who finished with three errors. Brown (5-7) got his first win since June 17. The right-hander went 1-4 with an 8.10 ERA in his previous five appearances. BREWERS 3, MARLINS 2 MILWAUKEE (AP) — Blake Perkins singled home the winning run in the ninth inning as Milwaukee rallied to beat Miami. Milwaukee erased a 2-1 deficit by scoring in each of the final two innings to avoid the sweep. The Brewers have been swept just once, in their opening series of the season at Yankee Stadium. The Brewers remain tied for first in the NL Central with the Chicago Cubs, who come to Milwaukee for a three-game series beginning Monday. The Cubs beat the Chicago White Sox 5-4 on Sunday. Eric Haase hit a one-out bloop single to center off Cade Gibson (2-5) in the ninth and advanced to third on Brice Turang's broken-bat double down the left-field line. Gibson intentionally walked Jackson Chourio to load the bases. Perkins then lofted a 3-2 pitch well over the head of center fielder Dane Myers. Perkins had scored the tying run in the eighth after entering as a pinch-runner, stealing second and coming home on Andrew Vaughn's two-out, ground-rule double off Ronny Henriquez. PADRES 9, CARDINALS 2 ST. LOUIS (AP) — Manny Machado went 4 for 5 with two doubles and three RBIs one day after twice being hit by pitches, and San Diego breezed to a victory over St. Louis to split a four-game series. Fernando Tatis Jr. led off with a walk from Michael McGreevy (2-2) and advanced to third on a single by Luis Arraez. Machado doubled in Tatis and Arraez scored on a throwing error by center fielder Victor Scott II for a 2-0 lead three batters into the game. Machado added a two-run double to cap four-run fourth for a 7-0 lead. Tatis had two of San Diego's 16 hits and scored three runs. Arraez went 3 for 5 with an RBI and two runs scored. Xander Bogaerts hit his seventh homer — a solo shot off Andre Granillo in the seventh — and Jackson Merrill had a run-scoring infield hit off John King in the eighth to cap the scoring. Rookie Stephen Kolek (4-5) allowed four hits and two runs — on Alec Burleson's 13th homer — in six innings. He hadn't won since beating the Marlins 8-6 on May 27. McGreevy gave up seven runs on nine hits in 4 2/3 innings. The right-hander has been called up from Triple-A Memphis five times this season to make his five starts. San Diego is 5-5 since the All-Star break while St. Louis has gone 3-7. RANGERS 8, BRAVES 1 ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Josh Smith hit a two-run home run, Wyatt Langford had a bases-clearing double and surging Texas piled up eight runs in the first three innings in a victory over struggling Atlanta. Josh Jung added a two-run single to help the Rangers sweep the three-game series. Rookie Jack Leiter (7-6) set a career high with 100 pitches and matched a career mark with seven strikeouts. He allowed a run on two hits and three walks over six innings. Texas (56-50) has won six straight games, going six games over .500 for the first time since April 6. The Rangers are four games out of first place in the AL West, gaining seven games since July 8, and are a half-game out of a wild-card spot. Atlanta starter Bryce Elder (4-7), who grew up about an hour's drive northwest of Arlington in Decatur, gave up all eight runs. The Braves (44-60) managed only four hits in dropping their fifth straight. Having played in the last seven postseasons, they're 12 games out of a wild-card position. ANGELS 4, MARINERS 1 ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Mike Trout hit a two-run homer in a four-run fifth inning to reach 1,000 career RBIs, and Los Angeles beat Seattle. Kyle Hendricks (6-7) gave up one run on two hits over six-plus innings and Kenley Jansen pitched the ninth for his 18th save as the Angels earned a split of the four-game series. Cal Raleigh hit his major league-leading 41st home run for the Mariners. The Angels broke a scoreless tie when Kevin Newman's grounder brought home Travis d'Arnaud in the fifth. Luis Rengifo then scored on Logan Gilbert's wild pitch. Thursdays Keep up to date on sports with Mike McIntyre's weekly newsletter. Trout crushed a 443-foot drive to center field off Gilbert to give him 1,001 RBIs. It was his 397th career homer and 19th this season. Raleigh connected against Hendricks in the seventh, his second home run in two nights and fourth this year against Los Angeles. Hendricks, who had one walk and three strikeouts, won for the first time since June 17. Gilbert (3-4) gave up four runs and three hits over five innings with seven strikeouts. _____
Winnipeg Free Press
an hour ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Angels star Mike Trout joins the 1,000-RBI club with a ‘big-time blast'
ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — One swing of the bat was more than enough for Mike Trout to deliver a reminder about his impact on baseball. The Angels star hit a massive homer to center field on Sunday to move past 1,000 RBIs in his career, a two-run shot that helped Los Angeles beat the Seattle Mariners 4-1. 'It takes your teammates to get on base, and after the game, that was one of the things I pointed out,' Trout said of a clubhouse toast that included whiskey and words of appreciation. 'None of this is possible without my teammates. It's been fun.' Now with 1,001 RBIs, another Trout milestone is around the corner as the three-time American League MVP reached 397 home runs with his fifth-inning drive that traveled an estimated 443 feet. 'He couldn't have drawn it up any better, putting a big-time blast like that to center field,' said Jo Adell, Trout's successor in center. 'I'm honored to be able to start my career here and play with him and just see the evolution of him.' Trout has struggled to stay on the field in recent years, with a bone bruise in his left knee forcing him to miss a month this year. He has played designated hitter since his return after starting the season in right field. He was batting just .200 with one home run in nine games since the All-Star break, but he showed Sunday he can still deliver after 1,598 games over 15 seasons. 'Every time we talk about Mike, even 75 percent of Mike is better than most people who have ever played the game,' Angels interim manager Ray Montgomery said. 'He's going to through ups and downs just like everybody else and his are more magnified because of who he is.' Thursdays Keep up to date on sports with Mike McIntyre's weekly newsletter. It was a day of exploits for the Angels' veterans as Kyle Hendricks picked up win No. 103 by allowing two hits over six-plus innings and Kenley Jansen pitched the ninth for his 465th save. Trout has 19 homers, his most since hitting 40 in 2022. He also joined Garrett Anderson and Tim Salmon as the only players to record their first 1,000 RBIs exclusively with the Angels. 'When guys are here that long and what they mean to the club, it's pretty special to be in that group,' Trout said of Anderson and Salmon, who now work with the Angels' broadcast team. 'They had unbelievable careers in an Angels uniform and when you're in the same conversation with them, it's pretty special.' ___ AP MLB:
CTV News
an hour ago
- CTV News
Flaherty, Torres help Tigers snap six-game losing streak with 10-4 win over Blue Jays
Detroit Tigers starting pitcher Jack Flaherty throws in the second inning of a baseball game against the Toronto Blue Jays, Sunday, July 27, 2025, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Jose Juarez) DETROIT (AP) — Jack Flaherty pitched six scoreless innings, Gleyer Torres hit a three-run homer and the Detroit Tigers ended a six-game losing streak with a 10-4 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays on Sunday. Detroit had lost 12 of its past 13 games. Toronto fell to 8-2 since the All-Star break. Flaherty (6-10) allowed a double and four singles. He struck out seven and walked one to end a seven-start winless streak. Max Scherzer (1-1), pitching on his 41st birthday, fell to 2-3 in five career starts against his former team. He allowed three hits in seven innings, including Torres' homer, and struck out 11 without issuing a walk. Dillon Dingler started the third with a single and took third on a Parker Meadows double. Scherzer retired the next two batters, but Torres hit a high fastball into the right-field stands for a three-run homer. The Tigers put the game away with seven runs in the eighth inning, including six with two out. Toronto scored four runs in the ninth off reliever Luke Jackson, who was making his Tigers debut. Bo Bichette had five of Toronto's 10 hits, extending his on-base streak to 19 games. Key moment The Blue Jays had runners on the corners with two out in the seventh. Brenan Hanifee relieved Tyler Holton and threw a slider over the middle of the plate. The ball left George Springer's bat at 108 mph, but Parker Meadows made a simple catch of the line drive in center field. Key stat The loss prevented Toronto from sweeping a four-game series from the Tigers for the first time in franchise history. Up next The Blue Jays travel to Baltimore for a four-game series against the Orioles. RHP Chris Bassitt (11-4, 3.88) is scheduled to start Monday's opener. Detroit remains home for a three-game series with the Arizona Diamondbacks. The Tigers face former teammate LHP Eduardo Rodriguez (3-6, 5.50) on Monday night. ___ AP MLB: Dave Hogg, The Associated Press
