TORONTO — Toronto Blue Jays fans recognized the moment and greeted Miguel Cabrera’s 500th career home run with a standing ovation, one that didn’t stop until the Detroit Tigers slugger came out for a curtain call.
Once he had ripped through the line of celebratory high fives and hugs in the dugout, out he came, arms raised, helmet in hand, and bowed to the Rogers Centre crowd of 14,685 showing a visiting player some love.
Impressively, they overlooked how Cabrera’s line-drive to right-centre field on a Steven Matz changeup just off the plate tied the game 1-1 in the sixth inning threw the Blue Jays into their place of highest peril: late leverage.
Despite nine balls off the bat at 101.2 m.p.h. or higher, to that point, they had managed only an unearned run off old friend Drew Hutchison, opening day starter on the 2015 AL East champions, extended their drought hitting with runners in scoring position and didn’t have either Tim Mayza or closer Jordan Romano available in the bullpen.
So, all the pieces were there for the type of collapse the Blue Jays have experienced all too often over the past couple of weeks. And just as they were on the verge of flipping the script Sunday afternoon, they found new ways to self-inflict pain, as a Marcus Semien throwing error blew what would have been the final out of a 2-1 win, eventually leading to a 5-3 loss in 11 innings.
The Blue Jays wasted opportunities to win the game in the ninth and the 10th, when Jonathan Schoop and Alejandro Kirk traded sacrifice flies before Kirby Snead surrendered two-out RBI doubles to Daz Cameron and Willi Castro.
Joe Jimenez, he of the 6.49 ERA and 1.644 WHIP coming in, then retired Bo Bichette, Semien and Vladimir Guerrero Jr., in order to close out a series win for the Tigers, in a game that handed the Blue Jays a seventh loss in nine outings and dropped them to 2-9 in extra innings.
