DETROIT — A single off the bat of Spencer Torkelson sent the Detroit Tigers sprinting into centre field to celebrate a walk-off win Friday night while Jeff Hoffman made his way back to the visitors’ dugout head down.
Torkelson’s ninth-inning hit gave the Tigers a 3-2 win and provided a gutting moment for a Toronto Blue Jays team that’s endured its share of them so far this season. Now 19-25, the Blue Jays fall back to six games below .500, tying a season low.
As well as Trey Yesavage pitched, searching for silver linings after a loss like this feels hollow. Yet as the series was beginning, manager A.J. Hinch offered some perspective on the Tigers — words that apply equally well to both these underperforming teams.
“One foot in front of the other,” Hinch said. “At the quarter post, so to speak, they don't crown division champions. They also shouldn't eliminate teams. We learned lessons and lessons over the years that it's a moment in time for everybody to jump to a conclusion that’s probably irrelevant.”
When a team’s losing early, the focus should be on improving day by day, Hinch said. And when a team’s winning early, there are no guarantees, as the Tigers learned first-hand last year by starting 59-34 only to lose the AL Central.
“There's lessons all over,” Hinch continued. “(But) it's super hard to stay mentally focused on the obvious, because there's all this roller-coaster ride of emotions.”
To borrow Hinch’s metaphor, Friday’s ride started with excitement over Yesavage. The outing marked a few significant steps forward for the 22-year-old, and not just because he finally has more regular season innings than post-season innings for his career. Yesavage set season highs with six innings and 88 pitches, important building blocks for what’s ahead.
"He's full go,” Blue Jays manager John Schneider said. "Not really worried about pitch count or ups or things like that ... the training wheels are off."
From a stuff standpoint, Yesavage appeared to be where he should be. His fastball sat around 94 m.p.h. while his splitter and slider were both effective, leading to a total of 18 swinging strikes and six strikeouts.
But afterwards, Yesavage delivered an unrelenting assessment of his stuff.
“Wasn't great,” he said. “Kind of sprayed the heater and bounced the splitter. The slider was really the only pitch I could rely on.”
The Tigers made little hard contact on their way to just four hits against Yesavage, the most significant of which was Riley Greene’s game-tying RBI double in the sixth. With that said, the right-hander's command betrayed him at times as he walked three and threw three wild pitches, one of which scored the Tigers' first run.
“I never lose trust in anything I throw, so it's kind of just throw it until it works,” he said.
Asked what it means if he can deliver a quality start on a day he’s not at his sharpest, his reply was succinct.
"It says that even when I'm at my worst, my stuff plays."
But while the pitching was stellar for the Blue Jays, a few other frustrating trends continued. At the plate, the Blue Jays struggled, scoring just two runs on what became a bullpen day for the Tigers after Ty Madden took a line drive off his forearm.
After a hitless night in four trips to the plate, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. continues seeking his first extra-base hit of the month. He chased a slider off the plate to strike out in the first and popped up a 3-0 pitch in the third, snapping his bat on his knee afterwards.
“He's grinding,” Schneider said. “I get it. I know he showed some frustration on the 3-0 pitch that he popped up, but it (only) takes a game for him (to get right). It takes a batter. It takes a swing and Vlad, he can't feel like he has to carry the team.”
Meanwhile, on defence, Ernie Clement’s uncharacteristic play continued. The typically stellar defender had a chance at a Colt Keith grounder in the first, but it ricocheted away for a single. Later, Clement made a throwing error on a Dillon Dingler single, allowing the catcher to advance on what would eventually be the tying run.
Three innings later, the Blue Jays intentionally walked Zach McKinstry to pitch to Torkelson, who delivered the game-ending hit. Afterwards, Schneider pointed to the three stolen bases Hoffman’s allowed in his last two outings and said he’d like to see him hold runners better.
“The thing is, you've got to limit stolen bases,” Schneider said. “The last couple outings for Hoff, teams are taking advantage of that.”
As Hinch said earlier in the day, one win doesn’t solve everything nor does one more loss end the season. The challenge for struggling teams is focusing on the task at hand moment to moment, a job that requires considerable discipline.
“The methodical nature of baseball just challenges you every day,” he said. “And see where you end up at the end of homestands and road trips and months and seasons.”
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