Detroit @ Toronto preview
Rogers Centre
Last Meeting ( Aug 8, 2014 ) Detroit 5, Toronto 4
With a pair of late homers in their series-opening win over the Toronto Blue Jays, the Detroit Tigers may have done more than halt their recent woes away from home. The Tigers, who continue their three-game set in Toronto on Saturday, entered this series having dropped six of their last seven on the road. However, Detroit overcame a two-run deficit in the ninth inning of the opener while getting home runs by Nick Castellanos and Eugenio Suarez during a three-run rally to post a 5-4 victory.
Not only did they get their first win in four tries against the Blue Jays this season, but the Tigers also became the first team since the 2004 New York Yankees to use back-to-back homers in the ninth to take the lead and win twice in the same season. While Detroit maintained its 2 ½-game lead over Kansas City in the American League Central, Toronto dropped six games behind Baltimore in the AL East and 1 ½ games back of the Royals for the second wild-card spot in the AL with its second straight one-run loss. After finishing July with six straight wins, the Blue Jays have lost six of seven to begin August.
TV: 1:07 p.m. ET, FSN Detroit, SNET (Toronto)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Tigers RH Max Scherzer (13-4, 3.24 ERA) vs. Blue Jays RH Marcus Stroman (7-3, 3.49)
Scherzer suffered his first loss in eight outings and saw his five-game winning streak snapped in Monday’s 2-1 setback against the New York Yankees after giving up two runs on nine hits over seven innings. The reigning AL Cy Young Award winner has seemingly found his groove after surrendering a career high-tying 10 runs on June 17, permitting two runs or fewer in seven of his last eight turns. Scherzer has been dominant in six all-time starts versus Toronto, going 4-0 with a 1.79 ERA.
After allowing a total of one run across 21 innings over his previous three turns, Stroman was tagged for five runs on seven hits in three frames in Sunday’s 6-1 defeat in Houston. The 23-year-old rookie, who has recorded nine quality starts in 12 tries since joining the rotation at the end of May, has yielded fewer than two runs in seven of those outings. Stroman is 5-1 with a 2.82 ERA in 10 all-time home appearances (seven starts) entering his first-ever meeting against the Tigers.
WALK-OFFS
1. Toronto RF Jose Bautista has reached base safely in 17 straight games and in 101 of his 110 starts this season.
2. The Tigers are 43-4 when they score five or more runs.
3. Blue Jays LF Melky Cabrera is batting .383 since the All-Star break.
PREDICTION: Tigers 3, Blue Jays 2