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Stroman gets first win as Blue Jays beat Tigers 3-2

Posted at 10:09 PM, Jun 29, 2018
and last updated 2018-06-29 22:09:32-04

TORONTO (AP) — Marcus Stroman pitched seven innings to get his first win this season, Justin Smoak hit a two-run home run and the Toronto Blue Jays beat Detroit 3-2 Friday, handing the struggling Tigers their 10th consecutive defeat.

It’s Detroit’s longest losing streak since a 10-game skid from Sept. 13 to 22, 2003.

Stroman (1-5) had not won since beating the New York Yankees last Sept. 24 in Toronto’s final home game of the 2017 season.

Making his second start after missing 39 games because of a sore shoulder, Stroman allowed two runs and five hits, lowering his ERA from 6.80 to 6.20. The right-hander struck out four and didn’t issue a walk for the first time in nine starts this season.

Seunghwan Oh pitched the eighth and Tyler Clippard gave up an infield single to begin the ninth but retired the next three batters in order for his fifth save in nine chances.

Detroit opened the scoring when JaCoby Jones scored on Dixon Machado’s double play groundout in the third, but the Blue Jays answered with a three-run fourth, with the first six batters reaching safely against Detroit’s Francisco Liriano.

Smoak hit his 10th home run and first since June 3 at Detroit, and Randal Grichuk added a two-out RBI single.

Tigers infielder Jeimer Candelario cut it to 3-2 with a solo homer, his team-leading 12th, to begin the seventh.

Liriano (3-4) allowed three runs in six innings to lose his third straight decision. The left-hander is winless in seven starts since a victory at Baltimore on April 28.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Tigers: LHP Daniel Stumpf (ulnar nerve) allowed one run and two hits in one inning at Triple-A Toledo. It was the first time Stumpf had pitched in back-to-back games since beginning his rehab assignment June 19.

Blue Jays: RHP Aaron Sanchez (right index finger) has not been able to throw since landing on the 10-day disabled list June 22 and is unlikely to be ready to return when eligible Monday, manager John Gibbons said. … Toronto selected utilityman Darnell Sweeney from Triple-A Buffalo to take the roster spot of OF Steve Pearce, who was traded to Boston on Thursday.

UP NEXT

Tigers LHP Matthew Boyd (4-6, 4.15) faces Blue Jays RHP Sam Gaviglio (2-2, 3.98). Boyd is 0-3 with an 8.66 ERA in four career starts at Toronto. Gaviglio is winless in five starts since beating Philadelphia on May 25.

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