DETROIT — When the Toronto Blue Jays are scoring runs in bunches, all they need is solid pitching.
That’s what they got from Marco Estrada Sunday, and it was enough on a day the Blue Jays scored 10 times. Toronto won 10-5 in front of 35,102 at Comerica Park, salvaging one win in three games against the Detroit Tigers to improve to 43-41.
“We needed it big time,” Estrada said. “All of us except maybe for (Mark) Buehrle haven’t been going too deep into games. Even today I didn’t, but I gave the team a chance to win and we pulled it off. It was a big win. We really needed it. We were getting a little frustrated with ourselves because we weren’t really pitching and weren’t really hitting. Today we all came together and got the job done.”
Estrada lasted five innings on his 32nd birthday, allowing two earned runs on five hits while walking one and striking out three. The performance wasn’t dominant by any stretch, but it was good enough to keep the Blue Jays in the game and much better than what they have been getting from their starters of late.
“Early on he was sharp, then I thought he ran out of gas a little bit,” manager John Gibbons said.
Roberto Osuna closed the game with 1.1 innings of scoreless relief, and Gibbons and trainer George Poulis paid the rookie right-hander a visit on the mound when they noticed him favouring his back. Osuna said he felt a muscle cramp on the right side of his lower back, a kind of soreness he hadn’t felt before.
“I think it’s going to be sore tomorrow,” he said. “I don’t know why, but this is what I think.”
But he made it clear he plans on being available Monday.
“Tomorrow? No, no, no no. I’ll be ready for tomorrow. I’ll be ready,” he said.
Finding answers in the rotation remains a challenge for the Blue Jays, who have two starters with ERAs over 5.00 (R.A. Dickey, Drew Hutchison) and no fifth starter. Felix Doubront could fill that spot Tuesday, especially since the Blue Jays didn’t have to use him in relief Sunday.
The Blue Jays have a clear need for starting pitching, but third baseman Josh Donaldson says he leaves that to Alex Anthopoulos. Asked if he expects the GM to make a move, Donaldson said he doesn’t know.
“I haven’t been in this organization long enough,” Donaldson said. “I try not to play general manager, because I get paid to play third base.”
But while Toronto’s pitching remains questionable, its bats continue to produce. The Blue Jays reached double digits in runs scored for the 15th time this season, improving to 15-0 in those games.
“That’s been the key to our season,” Gibbons said. “We need to start pitching a little better, no question about that. We had a nice stretch where we were. We’ve hit a little rough patch lately. That’s got to improve, because you can’t expect the offence to do that every time, especially when you’re running up against tough pitchers.”
Justin Smoak and Jose Bautista homered on a day that every Blue Jays starter collected at least one hit or walk.
“The guys gave me a nice birthday present and put up 10 today,” Estrada said. “It was a good day.”
Justin Verlander showed flashes of his former dominant self early on, touching 96 mph on the radar gun and striking out five. But his fourth start of the season took a turn for the worse when the Blue Jays hit him hard in the fifth inning. He allowed six runs, and with that his chances at a vintage performance disappeared.
It doesn’t get any easier for the Blue Jays, who have two more stops on the road trip starting with a matchup against Chicago White Sox ace Chris Sale Monday. But for at least one day Estrada provided some steady innings and the Blue Jays’ bats put up some more crooked numbers.
“We’re in that stage right now where it’s a grind mode,” Donaldson said. “We’re just going to have to play solid baseball through and through. We’re just going to have to continue to do the little things right and of course we’re going to have to go out there and we’re going to have to hit.”