Tigers at Blue Jays
The Toronto Blue Jays are stumbling back home after having a series victory at the defending champion Houston Astros and a winning road trip snatched from their grasp on Wednesday. The Blue Jays will try to turn the page on the road trip when they return home to host the Detroit Tigers in the opener of a nine-game stand on Friday.
Toronto took the opener from the Astros but dropped a 7-0 decision on Tuesday and watched a 5-0 lead disappear on Wednesday before falling 7-6 on a walk-off home run. "That game right there sums up our year to this point, to be honest with you," Blue Jays manager John Gibbons told reporters after the loss. "Five runs in that first inning. … When you have good innings, you have to get a shutdown inning or close to it. We didn't do that." The Tigers aren't coming that close to series wins and watched their losing streak reach nine straight while falling to the Oakland Athletics 4-2 at home on Thursday afternoon. Detroit, which fired pitching coach Chris Bosio for making insensitive comments toward a team employee on Wednesday, will send veteran left-hander Francisco Liriano to the mound on Friday opposite Toronto righty Marcus Stroman.
TV: 7:07 p.m. ET, FS Detroit, Sportsnet (Toronto)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Tigers LH Francisco Liriano (3-3, 3.94 ERA) vs. Blue Jays RH Marcus Stroman (0-5, 6.80)
Liriano could not get past the fourth inning at Cleveland on Saturday, when he was charged with three runs - two earned - on four hits and three walks while striking out three in a loss. The Dominican Republic native failed to record an out in the sixth inning in four of his last five turns and is up to 32 walks in 61 2/3 total innings. Liriano, who made 18 starts for Toronto in 2017, is 1-2 with a 2.80 ERA in six road starts this season.
Stroman returned from a seven-week stay on the disabled list on Saturday and turned in his best outing of the season, scattering six hits over five scoreless innings and striking out five at the Los Angeles Angels. The Duke product posted a 7.71 ERA in seven starts before going on the DL in early May with shoulder fatigue. Stroman is 0-1 with a 3.60 ERA in two career starts against Detroit.
WALK-OFFS
1. New Tigers pitching coach Rick Anderson told the media that the team will return to a five-man rotation, sending LHP Blaine Hardy to the bullpen.
2. Gibbons reached 1,500 career games managed on Wednesday - second in team history (Cito Gaston, 1,731).
3. Detroit RF Nick Castellanos is 9-for-19 during a five-game hitting streak.