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The Detroit Tigers slammed the door on two late rally attempts, then pulled off a series of big two-out hits in the 10th inning to beat the Toronto Blue Jays 4-1 on Friday night at Rogers Center.
The Tigers (59-65) ended a four-game losing streak, while the Blue Jays (63-57) lost six of seven.
Harold Castro delivered a single with two outs in the 10th inning to score Willi Castro and break the tie 1-1. After Robbie Grossman stepped in, Jonathan Schoop and Jeimer Candelario followed up with their own RBI singles to give Gregory Soto a cushion in the bottom of the 10th.
Tigers starter Tyler Alexander pitched seven innings, tying a career-high in his second career start in 2019.
Alexander escaped several early jams before settling down. The Jays’ only point came on Vladimir Guerrero’s 36th homer of the season, a solo right-hand shot in the fourth.
Tigers relievers Jose Cisnero and Gregory Soto found themselves in trouble in the eighth and ninth innings after Alexander left. Cisnero gave up a single and walk to start the eighth. He then struck out Marcus Semien on strikes and battled Guerrero before inducing a double play.
The script was similar to the ninth when Soto started the round with consecutive marches. The Blue Jays inserted pinched hitter Breyvic Valera in an effort to establish a sacrifice bunt and put two runners in scoring position. Valera went to the first goal side, where a Jonathan Schoop in charge made a slipped play and sent the ball to third for a forced out. The next batter – Randal Grichuk – rebounded in a 6-4-3 double play, the fourth of the game for Jay and the third to block runners in scoring position at the end of an inning.
“We’ve practiced a bit, but it’s really just Jonathan Schoop who’s athletic and defiant and isn’t afraid of making a mistake,” Tigers manager AJ Hinch said. “He had prepared for it. “
The Tigers did little against Jays starter Robbie Ray, who struck out 11 strikes and allowed no walks in eight innings, the longest outing by a Toronto pitcher all year.
But the Tigers had a point in eight. Zack Short scored a single, climbed to second on Grayson Greiner’s sacrificial decay, stole third, then came home to Ray’s wild field.
Hinch pressed all the right buttons: making the run in eighth; go with Soto in the ninth and stay with him in the 10; and inserting Castro as a pinch hitter for Greiner in the 10th.
Tigres slugger Miguel Cabrera went 0-for-5 with three strikeouts. There are 499 circuits left.
THE SCORE OF THE BOX
Following: The Tigers and Jays will meet again on Saturday at 6:10 pm. Tigers right-hander Wily Peralta (3-2, 3.70 ERA) will face Jays left-hander Hyun Jin Ryu (11-6, 3.72).
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