Toronto Blue Jays shortstop Troy Tulowitzki makes the tag at second base on Detroit Tigers catcher James McCann in the fourth inning at Rogers Centre in Toronto.Kevin Sousa
After a dizzying back-and-forth with the Detroit Tigers, the Toronto Blue Jays managed to extend their winning streak to a season-high six games at Rogers Centre on Thursday. Troy Tulowitzki came through with a clutch, run-scoring single in the bottom of the eighth to help the Blue Jays sneak past the Tigers 5-4.
With the Blue Jays down one run, Tulowitzki's single against Tigers reliever Alex Wilson sneaked through a hole at second base, bringing home a pair of runs to spot Toronto a one-run lead heading into the ninth inning.
Roberto Osuna locked down the final frame for Toronto (49-39), earning his 18th save as the Blue Jays pulled to within two games of the American League East-leading Baltimore Orioles.
"We hung around, we hung tough and we had some great at-bats late in the game," Blue Jays manager John Gibbons said.
It looked like the Blue Jays might've run away with it early after scoring a pair of runs in the opening inning against Detroit (45-41) starter Justin Verlander, but the production stopped there until the late-inning surge.
The Tigers, meanwhile, chipped away at the deficit thanks to a pair of solo home runs from Justin Upton and Nick Castellanos, who went deep in the second and fourth innings, respectively, off Blue Jays right-hander Drew Hutchison, who was making a spot start in place of injured all-star hurler Marco Estrada.
After Castellanos went deep, Upton doubled and later scored on a base hit from James McCann to make it a 3-2 Tigers lead. They extended that lead in the seventh inning when McCann doubled and scored, but a stubborn Toronto offense, despite stranding 14 runners and converting with runners in scoring position only three times in 17 attempts, kept pushing, and was finally rewarded.
"I think it shows the fight this team has," said Tulowitzki, who after a slow start to the season and stint on the disabled list has seen his production at the plate pick up. "Keep getting guys on base. Sooner or later with this lineup you feel very strong that someone is going to come through."
Hutchison delivered a serviceable performance, lasting six innings while allowing three earned runs on six hits. He turned the ball over to Brett Cecil in the seventh before Jason Grilli, who earned the win, bridged the eighth inning.
After Velander left the game in the sixth, the Tigers used a trio of relievers from a depleted bullpen.
Justin Wilson was saddled with the loss and Alex Wilson was charged with the blown save.
"I think at the end, really, Justin was kind of out of gas, so we went to Alex," said Tigers manager Brad Ausmus.
The Blue Jays may have struggled to generate runs, but they weren't short in the hit category, notching 12.
Two of those came from the bat of Michael Saunders, whose continued offensive success has been a bright spot throughout the Blue Jays' first half of the season.
Saunders, who as of Thursday was leading the five-player mix of final candidates vying for a spot on the American League all-star team, had a run-scoring single, a ground-rule double and a walk as he continued to swing a hot bat. Saunders is 12-for-25 over the past six games with five doubles, a home run and seven runs batted in.
The native of Victoria, B.C., has been giving the Blue Jays a glimpse of the player they'd hoped they traded for last year before his 2015 season was derailed by knee injuries.
The Blue Jays will send left-hander J.A. Happ to the mound on Friday night. Happ (11-3, 3.54 earned-run average) has been one of the most pleasant surprises for the Blue Jays since he returned to the team in the off-season.
He'll face Detroit right-hander Mike Pelfrey (2-7, 4.78).
Jamie Ross