Yunel Escobar #5 of the Toronto Blue Jays looks up after being thrown out at third base attempting to stretch a double into a triple during the seventh inning against the Detroit Tigers during the game on July 22, 2010 at Comerica Park in Detroit, Michigan. The Tigers defeated the Blue Jays 5-2.Leon Halip/Getty Images
Baseball is largely a game of percentages and Thursday afternoon at Comerica Park in Detroit the numbers came back to bite Toronto manager Cito Gaston in the backside.
Toronto starter Ricky Romero was embroiled in an engaging pitching duel against Justin Verlander of the Detroit Tigers.
The score was deadlocked at 2-2 in the eighth inning where Romero, a lefty, issued a lead-off walk to Johnny Damon, Detroit's left-handed hitting leftfielder, and Gaston decided to go to his bullpen.
With two dangerous right-handed hitting batters due up in Magglio Ordonez and Miguel Cabrera, Gaston gave the signal for right-handed reliever Shawn Camp to enter the game.
Camp has been deadly on right-handed batters this season, holding them to a puny .178 batting average.
Those numbers meant little to Ordonez, who stroked the first pitch he saw to left field, sending Damon scampering to second.
Cabrera's trip to the plate was even more damaging, as the Major League's RBI leader crushed a line drive to the power alley in left-centre, easily scoring Damon with the go-ahead run.
The Tigers (50-44) would score two more times in the inning to earn a 5-2 victory over Toronto (48-48) in the first of a four-game series in Motor City.
Running into outs Some dubious base running by the Tigers hindered their start as on three occasions over the first six innings they had base runners thrown out on the base paths. The most dubious instance occurred in the fourth with Toronto clinging to a 2-1 lead and Detroit's Ryan Raburn batting with one out and runners at first and third. Raburn struck out on a low pitch in the dirt and the ball was blocked by Toronto catcher John Buck and rolled a few feet to his right. Ordonez was the Detroit runner at third and he was halfway to home when he realized he may have been a tad overzealous. Ordonez tried to backtrack but Buck threw to Edwin Encarnacion who tagged the Tiger out at third to complete the unorthodox double play.
Seeing double Damon has been a great ambassador for the game and has been putting up some decent offensive numbers for the Tigers this season. But my goodness his arm is a liability in left field as Jose Bautista displayed in the first inning. The Toronto rightfielder stroked a hit down the left field line and then took advantage of Damon's weak arm by opting for two. It was no contest as Damon's lame duck relay was well wide of the bag.
Starters Verlander was shaky early-on, surrendering four hits - all for extra bases - through the first two inning s, including a two-run home run shot by Buck (his 14th) in the second that put the Blue Jays on top 2-0. But Verlander gathered himself and allowed just four more hits over the next six innings to record the win and improve to 12-5. For Romero, who went seven-plus innings, he allowed three of the runs off seven Detroit hits to lose for the fourth time in his last five outings. His record is now 7-7.
Roster moves The Blue Jays shuffled the deck a bit before the game, recalling utility player Mike McCoy from their Triple-A affiliate in Las Vegas and sending down starting pitcher Marc Rzepczynski. For McCoy, the stay is expected to be brief, a stop-gap measure until young slugger Travis Snider is ready to return from a wrist injury, which could be as early as Tuesday. DeWayne Wise got the start in left field with Fred Lewis nursing a sore left ankle. Yunel Escobar was back at shortstop after missing the last two games with a sore hand.
Next Today vs. Detroit Tigers, at Comerica Park, 7:05 p.m. EDT.
Starters Toronto RHP Shaun Marcum (8-4, 3.36) against Detroit RHP Rick Porcello (4-7, 5.63).
TV Rogers Sportsnet