Another game, another rain delay, another loss. After Daniel Norris rattled off four strong innings in his first career start against the team that drafted him, a near-hour long stoppage hit Comerica Park and the lefthander took the rest of the evening off.
Norris allowed a leadoff single followed by a run-scoring double, but composed himself to follow up a rough first inning with three consecutive scoreless frames. He struck out three, throwing 40 strikes on 58 pitches.
Additionally, he was aided by an unfamiliar commodity among Tigers starting pitchers: offense!
A three-run third inning backed by Niko Goodrum’s second home run in three games gave the team their first lead of the series.
What’s in a home run? A home run by any distance would sound as sweet.#MotorOn pic.twitter.com/K642aPmwAD
— Detroit Tigers (@tigers) July 20, 2019
While the rain cooled off the highest first pitch temperature at Comerica Park since 2014, it did not immediately prevent the Tigers’ bats from catching fire. John Hicks hit another two-run shot to the same spot Goodrum visited one inning and 90 minutes earlier...
And there's the t͓̽h͓̽u͓̽n͓̽d͓̽e͓̽r͓̽#MotorOn pic.twitter.com/oW6u3q3W29
— Detroit Tigers (@tigers) July 21, 2019
...but the lead would not hold up for long. In the fifth inning, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. launched his first career grand slam into the left-center field shrubs off Gregory Soto to tie the game at five.
It is not a Tigers highlight, but do yourself a favor and watch this thing fly.
GRAND #PLAKATA NUMBER 1! pic.twitter.com/VeCMh9G8ex
— Toronto Blue Jays (@BlueJays) July 21, 2019
Soto allowed another homer, a two-run shot to Brandon Drury, and a double to Eric Sogard — though he was thrown out after taking a wide turn around second base — before being pulled.
That was the last time either team came close scoring, despite two Brandon Dixon doubles in the sixth and ninth. The Tigers went out quietly, and the game ended nearly four hours after first pitch.
The Good
The Tigers’ pair of struggling flamethrowers in Trevor Rosenthal and Joe Jimenez put up back-to-back 1-2-3 innings in the eighth and ninth innings. Rosenthal even hit 100 mph on the stadium radar gun twice.
The Bad
Saturday was only the 27th game this season in which the Tigers scored at least five runs. While they are 16-11 in those instances, that is only 29 percent of their games played in 2019!
The Ugly
After being recalled to the 25 man roster to fill in for Spencer Turnbull who is dealing with an upper back strain, Gregory Soto allowed six runs on six hits in 1 2⁄3 innings, shooting his ERA up 1.65 points and taking his fourth loss of the season.
Oh, and Saturday’s loss marks Detroit’s eighth consecutive lost series.