Saturday, June 30, 2018

Game #82 Detroit Tigers (36-48) @ Toronto Blue Jays (39-43) - game recap

Justin Smoak hit a walk-off HR in the 9th as the Blue Jays beat the Tigers 4-3 to hand Detroit their 11th straight loss.

After a hard-fought win to start the Canada Day long weekend last night, the Blue Jays were looking to continue making life miserable for a struggling Detroit Tigers team. The Blue Jays received news just prior to the game that reliever Ryan Tepera was headed to the DL with an inflammed right elbow. In his absence, Tyler Clippard or Seunghwan Oh are the likely candidates to pitch in a save situation. Here is today's game recap.

Game highlights

  • The Tigers took the lead in the top of the second as John Hicks homered to left
  • The Tigers got two more in the top of the 3rd on a 2 run shot by Nicholas Castellanos that also scored Jose Iglesias
  • The Blue Jays got on the board in the bottom of the 5th as Kevin Pillar scored on a Devon Travis groundout
  • Matthew Boyd pitching line: 6IP 4H 3R (all earned) 2BB 7K 87 pitches (57 for strikes)
  • Sam Gaviglio pitching line: 7IP 4H 3R (all earned) 3BB 5K 97 pitches (59 for strikes)
  • Justin Smoak hit a walk-off HR leading off in the bottom of the 9th
  • Final score: Blue Jays 4 Tigers 3
My take

  • The long ball hurt Sam Gaviglio today. He served up a solo shot and a 2 run dinger to spot the Tigers a 3-0 lead. However, this is a Tigers team that, at the moment, is finding ways to lose ball games. When a team's fortunes are going badly, no lead seems safe and a deficit of one run can feel like the deficit of 100 runs. Gaviglio had only one clean inning (the 5th) today. He'll likely be in the rotation at least through the all-star game while starters Jaime Garcia and Aaron Sanchez recover from their respective shoulder and finger/foot injuries.
  • Kendrys Morales had a day to forget at the plate today, striking out all four times.
  • The Tigers saw their reliever Alex Wilson leave the game in the middle of an at-bat, which put the replacement, Joe Jiminez in a difficult spot, facing a 2-0 count on Yangervis Solarte. Solarte singled, with Devon Travis thrown out at home, and he struck out Morales to escape the inning. Kudos to Jennings for that effort in a difficult spot.
  • Up next, the Blue Jays look for their 3rd straight victory as ace JA Happ pitches against Tigers righty Jordan Zimmerman. The Blue Jays record on Canada Day is 13-26, including 2 straight losses.