TORONTO — There was a sense of relief in the Detroit Tigers’ clubhouse after their 9-1 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays on Sunday afternoon.
The victory Elias Lindholm Jersey , propelled by a grand slam from Nicholas Castellanos, a career-best four hits by Niko Goodrum and seven strong innings by starting pitcher Jordan Zimmermann, ended an 11-game losing streak.
It was the Tigers’ longest losing streak since Aug. 13-23, 2003. They have not lost 12 in a row since 1996.
“It’s good to hear the music playing out there and guys smiling,” Tigers manager Ron Gardenhire said.
The Tigers have a chance to escape the Rogers Centre with a split in the four-game series by winning the finale on Monday afternoon.
The Tigers will start right-hander Mike Fiers (5-4, 4.04 ERA) against Blue Jays left-hander Ryan Borucki (0-1, 3.00).
The Tigers had a team meeting before the game.
“It was just a casual talk,” Gardenhire said. “It wasn’t this rah-rah (speech). … I just let them talk and I just said to them, ‘Tell me what we need to do.’ Some guys spoke up and that’s all I wanted to hear. We’re playing hard. We’ve lost 11 in a row up to this point. These guys have been playing, man. They’ve been in every game. We’ve had a chance to win a bunch of these games.”
The Tigers (37-48) were able to put together a five-run fifth inning with a rally that started with two outs against Toronto starter J.A. Happ, who was 6-0 in his previous eight starts. They added two runs in the sixth, also with a rally that began with two out.
The losing streak was the longest by two games in the majors this season and the longest since the Los Angeles Dodgers lost 11 in a row last September.
“We’ve had our chances over the last 10 or 11 games,” Zimmermann said. “It’s just a matter of if we’re going to cash in when we’ve got guys in scoring position. We were able to do that today.”
The Blue Jays (39-44) are expected to trade Happ before the July 31 deadline. When he departed in the sixth inning Authentic Mike Cammalleri Jersey , the Canada Day crowd gave him an ovation.
“I did notice, and I certainly appreciate that,” Happ said. “Maybe it was appreciation for how the season has gone so far or whatever you might take from it, that’s kind of what I took from it. That’s a nice feeling, certainly nicer than potentially getting booed, not that I would expect that at all, either.”
The Tigers face a pitcher who made his major-league debut Tuesday against the Astros in Houston in Borucki. He took the loss after allowing two runs, six hits and four walks in six innings.
Fiers pitched seven strong innings Wednesday against the Oakland Athletics, but took the loss despite allowing only one run on five hits and one walk while striking out five.
Fiers has faced the Blue Jays six times in his career, five as a starter, and is 1-3 with a 4.11 ERA. He made two starts against Toronto last season and was 0-1 with a 5.25 ERA. In two career starts at the Rogers Centre, Fiers is 0-2 with a 5.91 ERA.
The only disappointing news for the Tigers Sunday came from a hamstring injury to center fielder Leonys Martin, who hobbled off the field after a beating out an RBI bunt single in the fifth inning. It was at first announced as a cramp Matt Calvert Jersey , but Gardenhire said the injury was severe enough to put him on the disabled list. Another player will be brought in for the game Monday.
The day was not a complete loss for the Blue Jays. In the ninth inning, center fielder Kevin Pillar made a spectacular leaping catch to rob Castellanos of what would have been his second homer of the day.
Gardenhire said even Castellanos appreciated Pillar’s catch, although it cost him a homer.
“That was amazing,” Gardenhire said. “That’s a long run, to climb the wall like that and make that play, the timing, the whole package that just tells you how special an athlete he is.”
The teams are 3-3 in the season series.
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — The Carolina Hurricanes have a new owner, general manager, coach and captain.
They hope it all adds up to one more important change: The Hurricanes want to become a playoff team again.
This shapes up as a critical season for a franchise that in the past decade has had more coaches (three) and general managers (three) than playoff appearances (one).
Carolina has made the postseason just once since winning the Stanley Cup in 2006, and this season marks 10 years since that lone playoff appearance. Another year of missing out would make it 10 seasons in a row — matching the NHL record for the longest playoff drought. That dubious mark was set by Florida from 2000-12 and equaled by Edmonton from 2007-16.
“I want to help this team win. Losing sucks,” new defenseman Calvin de Haan said. “No matter if it’s in Monopoly or Go Fish, it sucks. … A lot of things are starting to turn in the right direction here Mark Scheifele Jersey , and it’s going to be a fun place to play.”
New owner Tom Dundon added general manager to team president Don Waddell’s responsibilities and promoted assistant Rod Brind’Amour — the captain of that Cup championship team — to head coach, hoping his famed work habits, passion for the organization and no-nonsense approach rub off on a retooled group that’s centered around what’s overall a promising, but young, group.
“What we need to create is a stable foundation, top to bottom, and Tom and Roddy and all the other management involved have been trying to instill that,” new captain Justin Williams said. “This is the way we do things, this is the way we’re going to do things and what better way to start than the guy who’s the consummate pro and who’s going to work his butt off playing hockey. He’s going to work his butt off off the ice as well, and I’m excited to work with the team.”
Some other things to know about the 2018-19 Carolina Hurricanes:
NEW CAPTAIN
For the first time since Eric Staal was traded in 2016, the Hurricanes have a single captain, and it’s Williams. The former teammate of Brind’Amour’s on that ’06 team has developed a reputation for coming up big in Game 7s during a career that took him to Los Angeles and Washington. Williams was brought back last year to provide leadership — but was not awarded a letter, with defenseman Justin Faulk and forward Jordan Staal sharing the captaincy in a poorly received experiment. Carolina went the entire 2016-17 season without a captain Authentic Blake Wheeler Jersey , instead using several alternates.
GOALIE QUESTIONS
After letting former Conn Smythe Trophy winner Cam Ward leave during free agency after 13 seasons, Carolina needs Scott Darling to show significant improvement. Darling — entering the second year of a four-year, $16.6 million contract he signed for former GM Ron Francis — had the NHL’s worst save percentage last season at .888. That number has to be better for the Hurricanes to have any kind of success. They also brought in free agent Petr Mrazek on a one-year deal.
CAN THE KIDS PLAY?
Carolina is counting on a pair of teenagers taken in recent first rounds to pick up the scoring slack after a couple of notable offseason trades, sending Jeff Skinner to Buffalo and Elias Lindholm to Calgary. Martin Necas, their first pick in 2017, and Andrei Svechnikov, the No. 2 overall selection this year, will play key roles, and so will 21-year-old Sebastian Aho, who could move to center from the wing after a breakout 2017-18 season in which he had team bests of 29 goals and 65 points.
STRONG DEFENSE
Lost in the shuffle a bit, the Hurricanes might have one of the best defensive groups in the Eastern Conference after Dougie Hamilton came aboard in the five-player deal with Calgary and de Haan left the New York Islanders as a free agent. That crew was already solid with Jaccob Slavin and Brett Pesce locked in with long-term contracts, and Faulk looking to bounce back following a disappointing season for the former All-Star.
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