Meanwhile, Comerica Park was littered with frustrated Jays fans and Jays base runners as the partially dormant Toronto offence stranded 11 runners on the bases.
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Pillar ended Zimmermann’s day in the fifth with his two-out, two-run triple into the right-center gap. Both of the triples came in the fifth inning.
The Detroit Tigers (30-28) come from two runs down to beat the Toronto Blue Jays (31-29) 3-2 in extra innings.
The Tigers went on to lose, 7-2, in front of 36,036 at Comerica Park.
“I felt good”, Sanchez said of taking the game into the ninth, feeling fresh and confident. “This is a team that takes some big swings, and if you leave stuff over the middle you’re gonna get hurt”. As you get deep into the game, it’s more about staying focused more than anything.
“Quite honestly, I was pretty bad today”.
Pillar’s homer was Toronto’s only run off Detroit starter Matt Boyd, who gave up three hits in 5 1/3 innings but also walked five while striking out five.
“I was glad”, Ausmus said. “I’m disappointed. All pitchers have a few clunkers throughout the year”.
“I actually felt better today than I’ve felt all year”.
Zimmermann had been dealing with a groin injury, but said he’s not dealing with any lingering effects from that anymore. The Tigers have seen an uptick in scoring as of late, averaging 0.0 runs during the last 10 games compared to their season average of 0.0 runs per game.
The game brought Michael Fulmer yet another win. Castellanos, hitting cleanup, crushed a 1-0 offering from Dickey in the bottom of the inning for a 2-2 tie. He had one strikeout.
“It was the most exciting win of the season”, Ausmus said. I’m amazed I didn’t toss my laptop, there were several times I wanted to chuck it across the room. “And he did a nice job”. Masahiro Tanaka allowed two runs and six hits over seven innings for his eighth no-decision of the season.
Blaine Hardy pitched a scoreless inning of relief with one strikeout. The only batter to record a hit in the powerful Blue Jays lineup was Darwin Barney, who singled twice. Bautista struck out. Donaldson was intentionally walked. Second baseman Ian Kinsler has always liked facing the knuckle-baller, going 8-for-19 against him in his career with three home runs and six RBI. Donaldson needed a double for the cycle. In his last start on May 23, Anderson held the White sox to one run over seven innings and struck out nine.
The Tigers played without Cameron Maybin (wrist) and Victor Martinez.
All the Tigers rookie did was what he has done in each of his past three starts: Dominate. Detroit goes for the series sweep of the Blue Jays this afternoon with Jordan Zimmermann on the mound for the Bengals.
Mike Aviles started in left and batted second. Despite 9 walks we were only able to score 2 runs. A quartet of relievers finished up and did not allow a hit.
The Cleveland Indians have the longest current winning streak in baseball at six games, with all six winnings coming against opponents with a winning record.
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Justin Upton (0-for-4) had his five-game hitting streak snapped. Zimmermann’s line: 4.2 IP, 8 H, 7 R, 2 BB, 3 SO, on 100 pitches.
