Red-hot Tigers keep on rolling by taming Blue Jays in homerfest

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With the Blue Jays in the midst of pitching crunch, the team desperately needed a starter to step up.

Bowden Francis was assigned with the latest task as the red-hot Detroit Tigers began their weekend stay at the Rogers Centre on Friday night.

The series opener began well enough for Francis, who struck out the first hitter he faced en route to retiring the side in order, a three-up, three-down procession that required 15 pitches.

But by the time he was relieved in the fifth inning with two outs, Francis had surrendered two home runs.

The long ball dominated the night with the visitors out-homering the home side, 3-2, as the Tigers hung on to a 5-4 win with Francis taking the loss.

Detroit’s record improved to 30-15, while Toronto dropped its record to 21-23.

The following are takeaways on a night Jays’ starting right-fielder Nathan Lukes left the game with a migraine, the Rogers Centre roof was open for the second game in a row and Toronto nearly came back from a 4-0 deficit.

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1. Santander sits

No surprise to anyone when the Jays unveiled their lineup with Anthony Santander absent.

Rewind quickly to Thursday’s loss to the Rays and the sight of a forlorn Santander looking into what seemed to be the abyss from the dugout stood out. The newest Jay, whom many viewed as a key piece to the middle of the order, has generally been a disappointment. He’s wearing it and everyone knows it.

Jays manager John Schneider did the right thing in giving Santander what amounted to a reset after he spoke to the slugger following Thursday’s game.

Going forward, moving Santander down in the lineup is a possibility, or at least something that must be explored.

On Friday against Detroit, Daulton Varsho batted in Santander’s No. 3 hole, and belted a two-run homer in the sixth inning. It was his team-leading sixth dinger in just his 12th game of the season after missing time recovering from off-season shoulder surgery. The two-out blast did inject some much-needed energy into the stadium as it put the Jays on the board, cutting Detroit’s lead to 4-2.

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2. Tigers roar

Detroit entered the night tied with the star-studded and salary-bloated L.A. Dodgers for the best record in the majors. And the Motowners didn’t disappoint, in jumping out to a 4-0 lead.

Young star Riley Greene, Detroit’s cleanup hitter, produced a multi-hit game in driving in three runs. He also went deep for the 11th time this season, a solo shot on the first pitch of the second inning that opened the scoring.

After utilityman Zach McKinstry homered off Francis to lead off the fourth, Greene came through again with a two-run double in the fifth.

After the Jays closed the gap to one on Myles Straw’s RBI single in the seventh, the Tigers got it right back when Javier Baez launched a massive 408-foot blast off reliever Chad Green.

Bo Bichette’s leadoff homer in the eighth made it close again and despite getting the tying run into scoring position on back-to-back singles in the ninth, the Jays rally fell short when pinch-hitter Ernie Clement grounded to the pitcher.

3. The Barger experience

There are some days when Addison Barger is capable of doing just about anything and everything.

The young infielder was at the centre of things — both good and bad — in this game.

In the second inning, after working a walk from starter Jack Flaherty, he didn’t notice that Lukes’ liner into centre field was caught by Baez. Barger was already making the turn around second when Baez made the remarkable catch and throw to first to easily complete the double play.

At the plate, Barger went 2-for-3. After singling in the fifth, he was forced out on a Lukes double-play grounder. Then in the seventh, he blasted a ball to deep centre that was originally ruled a homer, only to get overturned, correctly it must be added, for a double.

Barger started at third base and made a nice diving catch into the stands for an out.

Up next

The second game of the series should attract, one would think, a larger crowd as the Jays play their fifth game of a nine-game homestand, the club’s longest of the season. If this current homestand has proven anything it’s that a home run or two or even three will be hit.