TORONTO — Willi Castro hit a home run in the sixth inning to help the Detroit Tigers to a 4-2 win over the Toronto Blue Jays on Friday.
Blue Jays starter Alek Manoah (11-5) gave up seven hits and a walk for four runs and hit four over 5 1/3 innings before being pulled with a bruised right elbow.
Manoah underwent a precautionary X-ray after leaving the game, which came back negative.
Helpers Tim Mayza, David Phelps, Anthony Banda and Max Castillo kept the Tigers scoreless for the remainder of the game.
Matt Chapman’s solo home run and Raimel Tapia’s RBI single were all Toronto (55-45) could scrape together on offense.
Victor Reyes had an RBI double for Detroit (41-60) and Harold Castro also had a run.
Bryan Garcia allowed two runs with three hits and two walks with three strikeouts over 3 2/3 innings. Will Vest (3-2), Jason Foley, Joe Jiménez, Michael Fulmer and Gregory Soto came out of the bullpen for the Tigers.
Chapman got the 28,046 fans at Rogers Center on their feet in the second inning, sailing a 1-2 pitch from Garcia to the deepest part of the ballpark. His 19th home run of the season bounced off the deck just above the 400-foot sign in dead center field, giving the Blue Jays a 1-0 lead.
Reyes tied it up for Detroit in the next inning, his hit bouncing past a sliding Teoscar Hernandez in right field for a double. Riley Greene scored from second place to make it 1-1.
Lourdes Gurriel Jr. undoubtedly saved Manoah a run in the fourth inning. Jonathan Schoop hit a flyball into deep left field with Jeimer Candelario at second base and two outs. Gurriel walked back to the wall and made a jumping catch just off the top of the fence to end the inning.
Tapia gave Toronto its second lead of the game in the fourth. After Gurriel Jr. and Chapman had back-to-back walks, Tapia hit a single to left field. That gave Gurriel Jr. enough time to slide home to make it 2-1.
Detroit responded right in the fifth, putting together a two-out rally. Greene walked, Reyes singled, and then Javier Baez was hit by a Manoah pitch to load bases. Harold Castro’s single brought Greene and Reyes home for a 3-2 Tigers lead.
Willi Castro extended that lead in sixth place, hitting his fourth home run of the season into the Tigers’ dugout in right field.
At the next at bat, Schoop hit a comebacker who veered off Manoah’s throwing elbow and bounced toward Toronto shortstop Santiago Espinal. The Blue Jays infielder got out first, but Manoah moved off the mound in obvious pain.
After a coach came out to look at his arm, Manoah left the game and Mayza came out relieved.
SPRINGER REST — Blue Jays outfielder George Springer was visibly uncomfortable after making big throws from deep right field in the eighth inning of Toronto’s 5-3 win over Detroit on Thursday. He had Friday night off, but Blue Jays interim manager John Schneider said Springer was available from the bench and would get a night off anyway.
BICHETTE OUT — Toronto shortstop Bo Bichette was also left out of the lineup on Friday with a sore left shoulder. Schneider said he was injured after colliding with Gurriel Jr. while tracking a flyball in flat left field the night before. Bichette came on in the ninth inning and scored for Tapia.
UP NEXT — Ross Stripling (5-3) will start Saturday afternoon as Toronto continues its streak against the Tigers. Former Blue Jays pitcher Drew Hutchison (1-4) will take the mound for Detroit.
This report from The Canadian Press was first published on July 29, 2022.