The Toronto Blue Jays are looking to bounce back this afternoon after a frustrating walk-off loss to the Detroit Tigers on Friday night. Spencer Torkelson’s ninth-inning single gave Detroit a 3-2 win and dropped Toronto to 19-25 on the season. It’s also now eight losses in their last 11 games, and the margin for error is starting to feel a bit thinner every night.
The second game of this series at Comerica Park gives the Blue Jays a chance to split things heading into Sunday, but the offence is going to need to give them more than it did last night. Outside of a brief second inning, there just wasn’t much sustained pressure.
TOR: Mason Fluharty (2-0, 5.40 ERA)
The Blue Jays are expected to go with a bullpen game, with Mason Fluharty likely opening things up. The left-hander has quietly become a dependable arm out of the bullpen this season, though starting a game brings a different kind of pressure, especially on the road.
Spencer Miles is still expected to handle a decent chunk of innings afterward, but the early plan appears to be using Fluharty to try and disrupt Detroit’s timing right away.
DET: Casey Mize (2-2, 2.90 ERA)
Detroit will get Casey Mize back from the 15-day injured list, and he was pitching well before going down. The right-hander carried a 2.90 ERA into the injury absence and had been doing a good job limiting hard contact.
The bigger question is probably workload. In his first game back, the Tigers may not want to push him too deep, which means Toronto’s best path here could be forcing long at-bats early and trying to get into Detroit’s bullpen sooner than later.
Below is the projected Blue Jays lineup for the game against the Tigers. It can, however, change ahead of the first pitch.
Bench: Tyler Heineman (C), Davis Schneider (Utility), Myles Straw (OF), Lenyn Sosa (1B/DH)
Injured: Shane Bieber (SP), Nathan Lukes (RF), Max Scherzer (SP), Jose Berrios (SP), Anthony Santander (RF), Lazaro Estrada (RP), Cody Ponce (SP), Bowden Francis (SP), Yimi Garcia (RP), Alejandro Kirk (C) & Addison Barger (RF)
Andres Gimenez was basically the entire offence for Toronto on Friday night, driving in both runs with a two-out double in the second inning. At a time where the lineup has struggled to cash in opportunities consistently, he’s been one of the few hitters still finding ways to contribute.
The Blue Jays are going to need more support around him this afternoon. Vladimir Guerrero Jr., in particular, feels like someone who needs a big game here as the offence tries to get going again.
One thing Toronto has to clean up quickly is its approach against Riley Greene. He extended his hitting streak to 10 games last night, which is now the longest active streak in baseball, and he’s been setting the tone for Detroit’s offence lately.
The Blue Jays entered this road trip sitting fourth in the AL East, and these are the kinds of games they realistically need to start banking. Especially against teams sitting below .500. The season is nowhere near over, but this stretch is starting to feel important.
Spencer Lazary Spencer Lazary is a contributor at Heavy.com and has five years of experience covering the NHL. Before contributing to Heavy, he has written for publications like, Fansided, NHL Trade Talk and The Hockey News. He also currently writes for The Hockey Writers alongside his Heavy coverage. More about Spencer Lazary
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