Detroit Tigers Add To Toronto Blue Jays’ Misery In Loss

Apr 5, 2013; Toronto, ON, Canada; Toronto Blue Jays center fielder Colby Rasmus (28) during batting practice before playing against the Boston Red Sox at Rogers Centre. Mandatory Credit: Tom Szczerbowski-USA TODAY SportsWith the return of Jose Bautista to the line-up after a three-game absence, Tuesday’s match-up against the Detroit Tigers was meant to go a lot better for the visiting Toronto Blue Jays.

Unfortunately, someone forgot to mention that to Miguel Cabrera and the Tigers offense, as Detroit dropped Toronto to 2-5 on the season after a 7-3 victory over the Blue Jays.

It did not take long for the Tigers’ bats to make Brandon Morrow‘s afternoon a short one. An RBI double by Prince Fielder scored Cabrera in the first inning. Morrow then got Andy Dirks to fly out to end the frame.

Detroit added a run in the second inning with a lead-off, solo home run by Alex Avila. Morrow would allow a two-out single to Omar Infante in the inning, but would escape without further damage.

Morrow then got through a scoreless third inning, but only after Rajai Davis threw out Torii Hunter at the plate. However, Morrow’s day would end with two outs in the fourth inning. After getting two quick outs in the inning, Morrow surrendered consecutive two-out singles to Austin Jackson and Hunter, before Cabrera unloaded his first home run of the season. Cabrera would finish the day 4 for 5 with four RBI in the game.

Morrow would end his day there, having surrendered five earned runs on 9 hits and a pair of walks, while not registering a single strike-out. Overall, he lasted 3.2 innings and threw 83 pitches on the afternoon.

Morrow’s last appearance without a strike-out was on June 11, 2012. It should be noted that he would spend the next 2 months on the disabled list.

Once again, the Jays bats were quiet, with most of offense coming between the top two hitters in the order. Jose Reyes continued his hot hitting, going 2 for 4 with a run scored, a RBI, and a stolen base. He was followed by Melky Cabrera would went 3 for 4 with a RBI.

Colby Rasmus did add a meaningless home run in the top of the ninth inning, a solo shot off of Joaquin Benoit, his third of the season, but that was punctuated by another pair of strike-outs for the enigmatic Jays’ center fielder.

Unfortunately, the team continued to struggle in putting runners into scoring position. Today, only five players reached scoring position, showing that Toronto is still depending too much on the long-ball. Perhaps some small ball and run creationg could help generate some offense moving forward.

Maybe that move forward comes on Wednesday afternoon, when Mark Buehrle and Rick Porcello will square off at 1:08pm ET.