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Instant Reaction: Blue Jays fell 5-4 to the Tigers in series opener
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Photo credit: © John E. Sokolowski - USA Today
Ryley Delaney
Jul 19, 2024, 22:00 EDTUpdated: Jul 19, 2024, 22:41 EDT
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The All-Star break didn’t help prevent the Blue Jays from losing.
On Friday evening, the Blue Jays returned to action for the first time since Sunday, falling 5-4 to the Detroit Tigers to bring their record to 44-53.
The Tigers opened the scoring in the top of the fourth, as Riley Greene singled in Matt Vierling to give them a 1-0 lead. Mark Canha followed that up with his seventh home run of the season, extending Detroit’s lead to 3-0.
Toronto answered back in the bottom of the sixth though, as Vladimir Guerrero Jr. hit a two-run home run with two outs to make it 3-2. Shoutout to Spencer Horwitz, who drew a two-out walk.
The Tigers answered right back in their next half inning though, as Wenceel Pérez hit a two-run home run to restore a three-run lead. George Springer hit his 11th home run of the season in the bottom of the eighth, but it wasn’t enough, as the Jays fell 5-4 to the Tigers.

Things worth mentioning…

Chris Bassitt deserved better than he got, as he finished with a line of 6.2 IP, 7 H, 5 ER, 1 BB, 6 K with two home runs given up to bring his season ERA to 3.71. He had two outs in the seventh inning before facing Pérez a fourth time. 
Bo Bichette was pulled from Friday’s game in the sixth and will get an MRI on his right calf. It’s been a disastrous season for Bichette, both in terms of performance and injury. Hopefully he can return to full health in the near future.
The bullpen had a successful day. Génesis Cabrera struck out two in an inning of work, while Ryan Burr struck out the only batter he faced. Chad Green pitched a scoreless inning in the top of the ninth to give the Jays a fighting chance.
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. hit his team-leading 15th home run of the season. Coming into this game, Guerrero Jr. has slashed .316/.375/.506 with 11 home runs (now 12) in 280 plate appearances for a 150 wRC+ since the start of May. This is the closest we’ve seen him to his 2021 form.
George Springer was slashing .188/.278/.281 with five homers in 295 plate appearances for a 64 wRC+ on June 24. Since then and coming into Friday’s game, Springer has slashed .364/.432/.697 with five home runs (now six) in 75 plate appearances for a 216 wRC+. For the season, he’s slashing .224/.308/.373. May he isn’t washed.
Up next: Blue Jays continue their series against the Detroit Tigers on Saturday. They’ll look to avoid losing the series, and will send out Yusei Kikuchi for what could/should be his penultimate outing with the Blue Jays.
As always, you can follow me on Twitter @Ryley_L_D.

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