Blue Jays take another step toward selling with bonkers loss to Tigers.
The Toronto Blue Jays lost a brutal game to the Detroit Tigers by the score of 14-11 on Matt Vierling’s three-run walk-off home run off of Jordan Romano, and it resulted in the Tigers taking three out of the four games in the series, dropping the Blue Jays to 23-29 overall. The game was back-and-forth, and the Blue Jays blew opportunities to get out of Detroit with a split.
The game started off rough for the Blue Jays, as Yusei Kikuchi did not pitch very well. Javier Baez and Andy Ibanez had RBI hits in the second inning to put the Tigers up 4-0, then Spencer Torkelson hit a home run to make it 5-0 in the third inning. The Blue Jays responded with a Cavan Biggio home run in the third and a Justin Turner RBI groundout in the fifth to make it 5-3 Tigers.In the fifth inning, Carson Kelly hit a three-run home run off of Trevor Richards to make it 8-3 Detroit, and it seemed like the Blue Jays would not have anything for the Tigers in this game. However, Toronto responded with two in the top of the sixth to make it 8-5 before Vierling would hit his first of two home runs on the day to make it 9-5 in the bottom of the inning.
An Isiah Kiner-Falefa home run made it 9-6 in the seventh inning, and the eighth was when it looked like Toronto might have saved the day. Bo Bichette hit a two-run single to make it a one-run game, then Daulton Varsho hit a three-run home run to give the Blue Jays an 11-9 lead. Unfortunately, Yimi Garcia was unable to hold the Tigers in the bottom of the inning, giving up a tw0-run single to Mark Canha to tie the game at 11.
Then, Vierling’s home run off of Romano in the ninth inning would be the nail in the coffin. With the Blue Jays dropping to 23-29 on the season, 13 games out of first place in the American League East and 5.5 games out of a playoff spot, it adds fuel to the fire of the idea that Toronto could become a seller at the deadline.
Who could the Blue Jays use as trade chips if they are sellers?
When looking at players the Blue Jays could end up trading, names like Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Bo Bichette stick out as names that could get significant hauls at the deadline. However, this would signal a full rebuild for Toronto, and it is unknown if that is palatable for the front office or ownership.
