Offence continues to elude Blue Jays in loss to Tigers

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In terms of measuring sticks, the Detroit Tigers come as close to any opponent when trying to size up where the Blue Jays stand, knowing the Motowners were the lone team in the major leagues to reach the 30-win total entering Sunday’s play.

With Major League Baseball unveiling its inaugural rivalry weekend, the Jays and Tigers might share a geographical connection, but one has to turn the clock way back to the days of Dave Stieb, Tony Fernandez and the likes of Alan Trammell and Jack Morris when a Jays-Tigers matchup resonated.

Despite the disparity in the win column, the Jays were more than competitive against the Tigers as each of the opening two games of the three-game series were decided by one run.

Sunday’s rubber match, played under a closed Rogers Centre roof, followed the weekend theme of tight games.

Another persistent theme involved the Jays’ lack of offence. The team managed one extra-base hit in a 3-2 loss to the Tigers.

The following are three takeaways on an afternoon in which Spencer Torkelson drove in all three Detroit runs, highlighted by the game winner on a single off reliever Braydon Fisher, who entered the game in the seventh inning for Mason Fluharty.

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1. SANTANDER’S SLIDE

It’s curious how a couple of minor issues involving a shoulder and hip were cited when Anthony Santander was given two days off, though he did enter Saturday’s game as a pinch-hitter, only to be intentionally walked, setting the stage for Ernie Clement’s walk-off single.

His day off on Friday was viewed as a reset for the struggling switch-hitting slugger, until the shoulder subject was broached post-game.

Santander was back in the lineup on Sunday at DH, but was hitting fifth in the batting order when he normally had been in the No. 3 hole.

One wonders if Santander continues to move down in the order when the Jays have all their regular position players available.

Interestingly, he led off the second inning Sunday with a defensive swing that led to a pop out to third. Of note: Plate umpire Steven Jaschinski, of Burlington, made his MLB debut on Friday. The two had a brief exchange after Santander asked for a timeout, which wasn’t granted, just prior to his soft pop out.

In Santander’s second at-bat, with runners on the corners, he struck out swinging.

In his third at-bat, Santander struck out on three pitches.

In the eighth inning, with a runner on, none out, and the Blue Jays trailing by a run, Santander struck out swinging on a full-count pitch.

His only swing of note on the day came on a foul ball he hit down the line in right field that landed in the fifth deck, eliciting amazement from Santander’s teammates from the dugout.

Santander’s season batting average dipped to .182 after his 0-for-4, three-strikeout day.

2. CAPTAIN KIRK

In his 34th start of the season, Blue Jays catcher Alejandro Kirk batted cleanup.

Kirk has been raking, and has arguably authored the two most critical at-bats of the season, the first at Yankee Stadium on the same day he threw out two runners in one inning, the most recent on Saturday in Toronto’s 2-1 win when he came off the bench as a pinch-hitter and delivered a game-tying RBI single.

He entered play Sunday with an MLB-high .324 average with two strikes.

Kirk was robbed of a hit in his first at-bat, and then came through in his second plate appearance when his single scored the Jays’ first run.

In a 2-2 game, Kirk stepped up in the fifth inning. With two outs and runners at second and third, Kirk grounded out to third.

A rare airmail back to the mound would see Kirk get bailed out when Clement, who started at second base, backed up the throw.

Kirk reached base on an infield hit when he led off the eighth.

3. BERRIOS BOUNCES BACK

Jose Berrios gave up two runs on three hits in the first inning, but the veteran right-hander did work around a loud leadoff double followed by a walk in the second inning to prevent Detroit from scoring.

The offence did its best to pick up Berrios, but was denied by Akil Baddoo, who made two great plays in left field, the first when he caught the ball at the wall that likely prevented two runners from crossing home plate, the second on a sliding catch that led to an inning-ending double play when Bo Bichette was forced out at second base.

Berrios settled down and even retired his brother-in-law, Javier Baez, in two straight at-bats before the Jays tied the game in the fourth inning.

A dramatic moment arrived for Berrios in the fifth when he faced Torkelson, whose two-run double opened the scoring and whose solo blast accounted for Detroit’s lone run Saturday.

With two runners on base and two outs, Berrios struck out Torkelson swinging as the game’s momentum swung back to Toronto.

Berrios also struck out Baez to end the sixth inning. It was the last pitch Berrios would toss in his 10th start of the season.

What stood out was how Berrios managed to pitch around trouble as evidenced by the seven runners he left stranded.

UP NEXT

The Blue Jays will spend Victoria Day enjoying an off day before Fernando Tatis Jr. and a very good San Diego Padres team provides the opposition Tuesday night in the opener of a three-game series as Toronto wraps up its nine-game home stand, the team’s longest of the season.