DETROIT – A day after scoring 12 runs on 14 hits, the Blue Jays were no-hit for the seventh time in franchise history.
Matt Manning, Jason Foley and Alex Lange combined for the first combined no-hitter in Tigers franchise history and ninth overall as Blue Jays hitters failed to provide starter Kevin Gausman with any run support on the way to a 2-0 loss.
The Blue Jays fall to 49-41 with the defeat, the first on their current road trip through Chicago and Detroit.
Before Saturday, the Blue Jays had been no-hit six times: by Len Barker in 1981, Dave Stewart in 1990, Nolan Ryan in 1991, Justin Verlander in 2011 and in 2019 and James Paxton in 2018. This latest no-hitter came after a one hour, 22-minute rain delay.
Now, there’s a difference between having a bad offensive game and being a bad offensive team. Not all games are referendums on a team’s players, or management or will to win.
With that in mind it’s worth zooming out and remembering that the Blue Jays entered play Saturday with the 13th-most runs scored in MLB, the 6th-best wRC+ (109), the 6th-best strikeout rate (20.8 per cent) and top-10 rankings in batting average (.262), on-base percentage (.329) and slugging percentage (.420).
Still, there was no offence to be found on Saturday and as a result, the Blue Jays missed a chance to pad their record against a struggling team.
With rain still falling in the first inning, the Tigers got to Gausman for the only runs they’d score against him. Riley Greene singled, Spencer Torkelson doubled and Kerry Carpenter tripled, giving Detroit an early 2-0 lead. But from then on, Gausman was his usual self, holding the Tigers scoreless over his remaining five innings while striking out seven.
The outing caps off a stellar first half for Gausman, who has now pitched 115.2 innings over 19 starts on his way to a 3.02 ERA. He’s a big reason why the Blue Jays rank third in MLB with 44 quality starts this year. If the Blue Jays are going to accomplish their ultimate goal of reaching the post-season and winning four playoff series, Gausman will have to factor prominently.
Next up for the right-hander – a trip to Seattle, where he’ll be one of four players representing the Blue Jays at the All-Star Game. Whether he pitches in the mid-summer classic was still open for discussion as of Saturday, but an appearance could serve as a de facto bullpen session ahead of his next big-league start.
Before the game, the Blue Jays placed George Springer on the paternity list while adding Nathan Lukes to the active roster, a move that created room for Cavan Biggio in the starting lineup. With Springer away from the team, Bo Bichette led off followed by Brandon Belt and Vlad Guerrero Jr.
Clearly, the new batting order didn’t work. Now, the Blue Jays must regroup before Chris Bassitt pitches against Tarik Skubal when the first half wraps up Sunday afternoon.
