The Toronto Blue Jays, last season’s American League champions, have struggled out of the gate. As they head to Detroit for a three-game series starting Friday, they’re hoping a dramatic late-game win marks a turning point. Toronto had lost seven of its previous nine contests before Daulton Varsho hit a walk-off grand slam in the 10th inning on Wednesday, lifting the Blue Jays to a much-needed 5–3 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays.
“It’s no secret we’ve all been pressing a bit early on,” Varsho admitted. “We’ve had good at-bats but also some bad luck, hitting the ball right at people. You have to trust the process. It’s a long season. Hopefully, we’ll get some guys back to boost the lineup. We’ll give it everything we’ve got every night.”
Toronto had lost the first two games of that series against the AL East-leading Rays. The Blue Jays then had Thursday off.
“That was a huge win,” manager John Schneider said. “It was a tough series, and it would’ve been easy to feel like things weren’t going our way while they played well and pitched well. We just needed one big hit, and we got it.”
Despite the win, the Blue Jays remain five games under .500. However, they’ll have one of their most formidable pitchers on the mound for the opener against Detroit. Trey Yesavage (1–1, 0.68 ERA) is still on a pitch count as he works back from a right shoulder impingement. He’s made three starts since returning, none longer than 5⅓ innings. In his last outing, Yesavage threw four scoreless innings against the Los Angeles Angels on Saturday, needing 87 pitches. He gave up four hits, walked two, and struck out six. The Tigers will be seeing him for the first time.
The 22-year-old will face another inexperienced right-hander, Ty Madden (0–0, 2.45 ERA), who’s making his ninth career appearance and second start. Madden has worked two long relief outings this month since being called up from Triple-A Toledo. He pitched five scoreless innings against the Boston Red Sox on May 4, then allowed three runs on two hits over six innings versus the Kansas City Royals on Saturday. In that game, Madden gave up a three-run homer to Michael Massey in the fourth inning of a 5–1 loss, but retired the final 11 batters he faced.
“We needed innings, and we wanted quality because we were trying to win,” Tigers manager A.J. Hinch said. “I loved how he bounced back after the home run. It would’ve been easy to fold and shy away from contact. He wasn’t commanding the ball perfectly, but he stayed competitive and finished at-bats in his favor. That’s the grit you need to get through an outing like that.”
Madden has never faced the Blue Jays before. Detroit, which nearly met Toronto in last year’s AL Championship Series, is struggling even more than the Blue Jays. The Tigers have lost eight of their last nine games, including a three-game sweep at the hands of the New York Mets this week. In Wednesday’s series finale, the Mets smashed five home runs in a 9–4 win.
One bright spot for Detroit has been Riley Greene, who carries an eight-game hitting streak into the weekend. Over that stretch, Greene is batting an impressive 16-for-33 (.485).
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