Blue Jays vs. Tigers: No. 1 in MLB after Jose Berrios delivers in Detroit

Hamilton Spectator

26-07-2025

DETROIT—
The Blue Jays'
spectacular second half continued as they picked up their seventh win in eight games since the all-star break, and took over top spot overall in the major leagues, by taming the Tigers 6-2 at Comerica Park on Friday night. Here's what you need to know:
Just as they did in Thursday's opener, the Jays blinked first, with José Berríos allowing a second-inning RBI double to Dillon Dingler to open the scoring. The right-hander held firm from there, allowing only one more run over six innings to pick up his seventh win and lower his ugly July ERA by almost a full run to 6.12.
The Jays got doubles from
Vladimir Guerrero Jr.
and Addison Barger to tie it in the fourth, and Barger scored the go-ahead run later that inning on an errant throw to first by Javier Báez with Joey Loperfido hustling down the line.
A four-run explosion in the fifth put the game away, handing the Tigers their 11th loss in 12 games.
Vlad and Bo
The Jays
busted the game open with that four-run frame
, featuring back-to-back RBI doubles by Guerrero and
Bo Bichette
(scoring two) and an RBI single by Alejandro Kirk. The Jays were relentless on offence yet again. Six of the first seven batters of the inning came up with hits. Amazingly, it was the seventh time the Jays have scored at least four runs in an inning in eight games since the break. Over the first 36 games of the season, they did it three times.
Relief for Fisher
Rookie Braydon Fisher had an incredible first half out of the Jays bullpen, allowing only two runs in 27 innings and forcing his way into high-leverage spots. In his first outing after the break, though, the right-hander failed to retire a single hitter: allowing a double, single and walk in an 8-6 win over the San Francisco Giants on July 20 before being replaced. He got another chance Friday night and responded beautifully with a perfect seventh inning, helped by a terrific catch in foul territory by Barger.
Hall of Fame look
The Jays, like many major-league teams, are sporting throwback caps to celebrate Hall of Fame weekend.
CC Sabathia, Ichiro Suzuki and Billy Wagner
(father of the Jays' Will Wagner, who will be attending the ceremony) will be inducted into Cooperstown on Sunday along with the late
Dick Allen and former Jay Dave Parker.
The throwbacks are the same caps they wore for the first dozen years of the franchise: blue with a white panel with the original logo on the front. The same ones they wore when they had their hearts broken just down the road at Michigan and Trumbull in 1987.
ItsNotAboutArt found me on Bluesky @wilnerness and asked: '
Why do analysts keep speculating that the Jays will trade for a starting pitcher?
'
It's about insurance more than anything. While the Jays have five solid starting pitchers (though, again, Berríos's July numbers) and Alek Manoah rehabbing his way back in Florida, they lack guarantees.
Can Max Scherzer be expected to stay healthy through October? Is Eric Lauer, who had a 6.56 ERA in 2023 and was released by two teams last year without making it to the majors, a sure bet to keep this up? Will a 34-year-old Kevin Gausman and a 36-year-old Chris Bassitt be able to avoid injury the rest of the way? Will Berríos get back on track?
That's a lot of question marks. The best answer is to bring in a strong starting pitcher and let the Jays work with a six-man rotation over the final two months, kind of like they did when they brought in Francisco Liriano in 2016.