The Tigers are sitting in second place in the American League Central with a 26-30 record. The Jays have a pretty difficult month of June, so if they can’t do something against the Tigers this weekend, uh, it won’t be good.

Jaime Garcia is coming off his best start as a Blue Jay. He came off the 10-day disabled list and held the Phillies to one run over seven innings. He probably could have gone longer if not for it being a game in a National League park. The best part about Garcia’s start was the fact he didn’t walk anybody over those seven innings. Part of the reason why he had been so bad before was a lack of command so hopefully the DL stint dealt with that. Blaine Hardy will start for Detroit. Over the past few seasons he’d been a reliever but he’s made three starts for the Tigers in 2018. Most recently, he held the White Sox to one run on three hits over seven innings. But it was against the White Sox so I’m not sure if it counts.

J.A. Happ churned out his third-straight quality start last weekend against the Phillies going six-and-a-third while allowing just two earned runs. Happ has quietly been excellent this year as his 10.8 strikeouts per nine ranks towards the top of the American League among starting pitchers. He’s really been Toronto’s only consistently-good starter. Former Jay Matt Boyd, one of the pitchers involved in the David Price trade, will start for Detroit. Boyd has made 10 starts this season and he owns an impressive 3.00 ERA. That said, Boyd hasn’t made it past the fifth inning in either of his last two starts.

 

The enigmatic Aaron Sanchez will start the finale on Sunday. Sanchez has been up and down all season. In his most recent start, he allowed a career-high seven earned runs to the Boston Red Sox. After a really good stretch to start the season, Sanchez hasn’t thrown a quality start since April. He’ll go against Michael Fulmer, the former Rookie of the Year who’s going through a disappointing season. Fulmer owns a 4.60 ERA and has seen his strikeouts decrease while his walks have increased.