The Toronto Blue Jays clobbered the Detroit Tigers 11-4 to move into first place in the American League, ahead of the Houston Astros.
The slumping Tigers didn’t make things easy for the Blue Jays at first. Detroit got things going early with a first-inning home run from designated hitter Jahmai Jones. After that, though, Blue Jays pitcher Eric Lauer settled down and allowed four hits and zero runs through the next seven innings of the game.
“Man, he located really well,” said Toronto manager John Schneider in a postgame interview. “It’s a tough lineup. Scoring definitely helps. Helps him go longer in the game… Eric has shown time and time again he just knows how to pitch, and nothing seems to really faze him.”
The feeling of the game changed drastically after the fifth inning. Once Eric Lauer was able to secure three quick outs, the Blue Jays turned on the jets, scoring five runs in the top of the sixth.
“I think the kind of turning point was [the] fifth inning, a four-pitch inning,” Schneider said. “And we come back and do that against a starter that’s been really good against us.”
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. got Toronto going with a double that tied the game 1-1. Then, Ernie Clement hit a three-run home run to put the Blue Jays ahead 4-1.
“Ernie likes a challenge and likes sticking his nose right in the middle of stuff,” Schneider said. “[He] caught a slider up. Hit it really well… When you’re trying to cover a spot where a Hall of Famer is, for him to do what he’s done has been phenomenal.”
“I just locked in,” Clement said in an interview after the win. ” I had a good approach there and got the job done… I hit a fastball my at-bat prior, so I was kind of ready for the slider.”
After that, the Blue Jays scored six more runs, including three in the seventh inning. The team finished the evening with 15 hits and three home runs.
“Joey (Loperfido) and I going back-to-back is kind of cool. I was pumped about that,” Clement said. “We’re just playing really good baseball. We’re playing winning baseball. It’s one through nine. We keep saying that, but it’s everybody.”
“I’ve heard a lot of talk about us being kind of a gritty team that isn’t sustainable, and I think the exact opposite,” Schneider explained. “I think we’re gritty as hell, but I think a lot of the stuff we’re doing is gonna lead to a lot of wins.”
On the other side, things have not been going well for the Tigers lately. They have one win in their last 11 games.
“Obviously, I think a lot of guys are trying to do a little bit too much,” said Detroit manager A.J. Hinch during an interview. “We’ve hit a collective rut where almost all of our guys are having an unproductive at-bat at some point… It seems like when one bad thing happens, the dam breaks.”
Regardless of their recent performance, Hinch knows what his squad needs to do to get back to its winning ways.
“I know this team. I know the conversation around it over the last couple of weeks,” he said. “Offensively, we’ve got to piece some at-bats together. We need more than one good at-bat. We need two good at-bats, and then the third guy. That’s one of the things we’re doing well when we’re good.”
The Blue Jays and Tigers will face each other again tonight. The first pitch in that game is scheduled for 7:10 p.m. EDT.
https://www.101greatgoals.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/3BDTG39.jpg
2025-07-25 20:13:35
