Blue Jays 8, Tigers 3
Mark DeRosa belted a three-run homer and Jose Reyes had three hits while going deep for the second straight contest as host Toronto celebrated Canada Day by breezing to victory in the opener of a four-game series.
J.P. Arencibia replaced an injured Edwin Encarnacion and had two-run single and Munenori Kawasaki also drove in a run during a four-run third inning. Rajai Davis had two hits and a pair of stolen bases while R.A. Dickey (8-8) tossed seven solid innings for the Blue Jays (41-41), who evened their record after winning for just the third time in eight games.
Prince Fielder and Omar Infante belted solo homers - with the latter adding an RBI ground-rule double in the fourth inning. Miguel Cabrera went 0-for-4 to see his 15-game hitting streak come to an end. The Tigers have dropped six of their last seven and fell a half-game behind idle Cleveland atop the American League Central.
After Kawasaki opened the scoring in the second inning, Reyes gave Toronto a 2-0 lead in the third by jumping on a changeup from rookie starter Jose Alvarez (1-2) and launching it into the second deck in left field. Arencibia doubled the advantage with a two-run single to shallow left before Maicer Izturis' sacrifice fly capped the four-run frame.
DeRosa continued the onslaught one inning later by depositing an 0-1 sinker from reliever Luke Putkonen over the wall in right field to give the Blue Jays an 8-2 lead. The offense was more than enough for Dickey, who allowed two runs on six hits to post his fourth win in his last five decisions.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Toronto donned special red jerseys in honor of Canada Day. ... Encarnacion was scratched from the starting lineup due to left hamstring soreness. ... Alvarez, who was making his fourth career start, yielded five runs on six hits in three innings to take the loss.