The Toronto Blue Jays‘ hopes of winning the Golden Grapefruit are slowly slipping away, with the club dropping another contest this spring to fall to 8-11.

Toronto welcomed Tarik Skubal and the Detroit Tigers for an afternoon matchup at TD Ballpark, and it was the reigning Cy Young winner who helped take home the victory.

The southpaw went 4 2/3 innings, allowing just three hits and one earned run in the contest while striking out seven Blue Jays. The one run he allowed proved to be the lone mark against the Tigers today, with Jays centre fielder Daulton Varsho launching a solo shot deep over the centre field wall. Varsho continued his impressive spring stretch with another home run, tagging a middle-middle Skubal sinker 105.8 MPH off the bat.

For the Blue Jays, Max Scherzer made his second start this spring. The right-hander signed with Toronto during Spring Training, but the veteran starter doesn’t look out of place in the Jays’ rotation.

Scherzer went 4 2/3 innings, allowing two hits and two walks without an earned run allowed while striking out five. He kept the Tigers off balance for a good chunk of the game, generating two groundouts and six flyouts while posting a 64.6% strike rate. Scherzer started the game with two K’s in the first inning, including top prospect Kevin McGonigle on a low curveball in the dirt that the Tigers infielder swung over.

The second inning saw Scherzer land in a tough spot with the bases loaded and two outs, but he was able to escape the jam by getting Tigers prospect and Canadian Trei Cruz to fly out to centre field. From there, it was smooth sailing for the future Hall of Famer, who finished the day in the middle of the fifth inning.

Tommy Nance would replace Schezer in the fifth inning, and the right-hander struggled to keep the runs off the board. Back-to-back walks and a double to Matt Vierling put a run across for Detroit, and the Tigers would tack another on thanks to a single from Wenceel Perez.

The Jays’ relief corps struggled in today’s game, with Louis Varland, Jorge Alcala (x2), and Josh Fleming all being charged with an earned run. Alcala was only able to secure one out in his outing, while allowing four hits and two earned runs to help deepen the Tigers’ lead.

At the plate, it was a quiet day from the starters outside of Varsho, Myles Straw, and Riley Tirotta, who notched two hits on the day. George Springer, Davis Schneider, Alejandro Kirk, Eloy Jimenez, and Leo Jimenez were kept out of the hit column, while Arjun Nimmala, who subbed in for the younger Jimenez late in the game, added a hit of his own.

Toronto will continue its Spring Training action tomorrow when they face Bo Bichette and the New York Mets in Port St. Lucie.

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