Jays loss to Tigers

Blue Jays 1 Tigers 3

One of those games. We had many of the hardest-hit balls of the game, and yet they found gloves.

The four hardest-hit balls of the game:

• Vlad: 110.3 MPH: Groundout.
• Vlad: 108.3 MPH: Single.
• Bo: 106.8 MPH: Lineout.
• Bo: 105.4 MPH: Lineout.

Bichette had a day:

We couldn’t get a ball to fall in at the right moment. The Jays had 9 hits but all singles. There were balls hit to the track, but not out of the park. And we had four hard-hit liners go for outs.

And Gabriel Moreno got his first MLB hit in the ninth inning. The man is not a slow-footed catcher:

Moreno also got his first run scored, coming in on a George Springer single. But Bo Bichette came up about 10 feet short of hitting a game-tying home run, instead he had his drive caught at the track to end the game.

Kevin Gausman didn’t have a bad day. 6 innings, 6 hits, 2 runs, 1 earned (1 helped by a Bo Bichette error), 3 walks and 4 strikeouts.

He gave up a run in the first. A Victor Reyes single leadoff single. Reyes tried to steal to second The throw was there, the tag was there, but the ball came out of Bo’s glove. Kind of a tough error, but an error. Harold Castro singled him home. If Bo could have held onto that.....

And a run in the fourth. Javier Baez walked (he is a tough man to walk, but he had 3 walks today. One of those things that are hard to believe). A ground-out moved him to second, and a triple (by Eric Haase) scored him.

The Tigers got their third run in the seventh. David Phelps gave up a Haase double and a Reyes single, before getting a strikeout. Tim Mayza came in and had Cavan Biggio snag a nicely hit line-drive, and then he threw to first for a double play. Tim’s first outing after coming off the IL today lasted all of four pitches.

Trevor Richards pitched a quick ninth with a walk.

No Jays of the Day today.

At the other end we have Espinal (-.120, for an 0 for 4), Bo (-.102 for a 2 for 5, but that fly out in the ninth was costly. He was one of two Jays with 2 hits, but he also had that error). Moreno also had a -.100, but he had a caught stealing lost on the error. He also had his career first single and he looked good behind the plate. So I’m not giving him the ‘award’ in his first MLB game.

Cavan Biggio had a good day too, turning two line drives into double-play balls, by making next catches and throwing behind runners.

Tomorrow we try to win the series. Ross Stripling (2-1, 3.65) vs. Tarik Skubal (5-2, 2.33). Tarik despite having a name that sounds like something a Star Trek writer came up with after a night of drinking, is the Tigers’ best starter this season.