TORONTO – George Springer singled home the winning run in the bottom of the 10th inning and the Toronto Blue Jays rallied past Detroit 4-3 on Wednesday night, handing the Tigers their sixth consecutive defeat.
Toronto erased a two-run deficit in the ninth after reliever Trey Wingenter loaded the bases. He yielded a single to Vladimir Guerrero Jr., walked Matt Chapman and hit Daulton Varsho with a pitch.
“They trust me to close the thing out, and I kind of let the boys down,” Wingenter said. “That was on me.”
Guerrero and Chapman scored on sacrifice flies from Whit Merrifield and pinch-hitter Alejandro Kirk off Chasen Shreve (0-1).
“They’re a momentum-based team and when one thing goes well, they get the snowball rolling and that’s kind of what happened,” Wingenter said.
Springer’s single up the middle off José Cisnero scored automatic runner Danny Jansen, who advanced from second to third on Kevin Kiermaier’s sacrifice bunt.
“It’s cool to hit a homer, but to manufacture runs in a lot of other ways – walks, hits, a bunt tonight – is huge for us,” Springer said. “This is a hard league. The more you’re able to do, the better.”
Jordan Romano (2-0) pitched a hitless inning for the Blue Jays (8-4), who have won seven of eight. Kevin Gausman struck out 11 in eight innings.
“It seems like George is right in the middle of it always,” Gausman said. “That guy is about as clutch as anybody.”
Detroit took a 3-1 lead on Kerry Carpenter’s two-run homer in the seventh. Nick Maton also homered for the Tigers (2-9).
Detroit lefty Eduardo Rodriguez allowed one run and seven hits in six innings.
With warm weather in the Toronto area, the retractable roof was open at Rogers Centre. It was the earliest date the roof has ever been open for a game, the Blue Jays said.
Gausman extended his shutout streak to 16 1/3 innings until Maton’s solo shot in the fourth.
Toronto tied it in the bottom half. Guerrero reached with an infield hit and advanced to third on Varsho’s two-out single to center. Detroit shortstop Javier Baez made a diving stop in shallow left field on Merrifield’s sharp grounder and recovered in time to trap Guerrero in a rundown after he rounded third.
But third base umpire Erich Macchus ruled Tigers infielder Ryan Kreidler interfered with Guerrero as he rounded third and awarded the Blue Jays the tying run.
EXTRA! EXTRA!
An eighth-inning double by Miguel Cabrera tied him for 16th place with Tris Speaker on the career list for extra-base hits with 1,134.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Tigers: Placed RHP Matt Manning (broken right foot) on the 15-day injured list after Kirk’s comebacker hit the Detroit starter in the sixth inning Tuesday. Tigers manager A.J. Hinch suggested RHP Michael Lorenzen (groin strain) could replace Manning in the rotation. Lorenzen is with Triple-A Toledo on a rehab assignment and could be activated this weekend.
NEVIN PROMOTED
The Tigers recalled INF Tyler Nevin from Triple-A Toledo. Nevin hit .514 (18 for 35) with four doubles, a triple and a home run with Toledo.
“We’ll get him in there in the next couple of games and see if he can continue what he’s done in Triple-A,” Hinch said.
PERFECT PITCH
Wearing his No. 45 Montreal Expos jersey, Hall of Fame pitcher Pedro Martinez tossed out the ceremonial first pitch to his Guerrero, his godson. Martinez and Guerrero’s father, Vladimir Sr., were teammates in Montreal in 1996 and 1997.
UP NEXT
Blue Jays RHP Chris Bassitt (1-1, 10.61 ERA) starts Thursday against RHP Spencer Turnbull (0-2, 13.50) in the series finale. Coming off Tommy John surgery, Turnbull is seeking his first win since May 29, 2021.
