What a gut punch. None of the losses during this losing streak by the Tigers has been particularly easy to take, but tonight's is the type that just makes you sick.
Detroit had a 6-3 lead after the fifth inning, thanks to a three-run bomb by Miguel Cabrera. But the Blue Jays kept chipping away, mostly with the long ball.
Vernon Wells and Marco Scutaro each hit solo homers in the sixth and seventh innings, respectively, to cut the Tigers' lead to one. Then Brandon Lyon coughed up the lead in the eighth on a wild pitch that allowed the tying run to score.
And if I were to say Fernando Rodney came in for a non-save situation, would your reaction have been to scream, set yourself on fire, and jump out a window. Okay, maybe not. But did you feel that way after Rodney served up a two-run homer to Aaron Hill? What if I added that it all happened with two outs in the inning?
But it certainly didn't help that the lineup only mustered two hits in the four innings after Cabrera's home run. Yes, the Tigers had already scored six runs, but with the way this pitching staff has been struggling - along with how the Jays were swinging the bats - the offense needed to do more in those late innings.
This team picked a hell of a time for their first five-game losing streak of the season. Good luck with trying to sleep this one off.
Whimper:
Besides Rodney, you mean?
It seems almost unfair to call out Edwin Jackson when he pitched relatively well through five innings, allowing three runs and five hits. But Jackson needed to shut the door after he was given a three-run lead, and he let the Jays right back into it with the homers by Wells and Scutaro.
Comment of the Night:
Good thing I was already planning on drinking tonight
by ahtrap
And for the runner-up, we give you a visual aid.