TORONTO — To be honest, it was a recipe for disaster.
Bryan Garcia, a career reliever — a former Tigers closer, in fact — had made just three transitional starts at Triple-A Toledo, maxing out at 54 pitches, before he was summoned to fill yet another injury-induced void in the rotation.
Against arguably the best hitting team in baseball? What could possibly go wrong?
Sometimes you just never know. Because very little went wrong for the Tigers Friday night.
Garcia limited the Blue Jays to three hits and two runs in 3 2/3 innings, surpassing even the most optimistic expectations, the bullpen locked down the last 5 1/3 and the Tigers evened the series with a 4-2 win.
Until the fourth, the only mark on Garcia was a 420-foot home run to dead center by sizzling Matt Chapman, his third home run in two games against the Tigers.
Garcia, who was on a 70-pitch limit, got the first two outs in the fourth before walking Lourdes Gurriel, Jr., and Chapman. He was at 67 pitches and Will Vest had just started to warm in the bullpen. Manager AJ Hinch needed to squeeze one more out from him.
That didn’t happen. Raimel Tapia hit Garcia’s next pitch into left field, RBI single breaking a 1-1 tie and Garcia’s night was over.
But the Tigers were still very much in the fight. Because, the flipside to Garcia, the offense also exceeded expectations against Blue Jays’ All-Star right-hander Alek Manoah, knocking him out of the game, literally, in the sixth inning.
After Willi Castro lined his second home run in as many days to lead off the inning, giving the Tigers a 4-2 lead, Jonathan Schoop lined one back through the box, clipping Manoah on the right elbow. He was in considerable pain and left the game.
Blue Jays reported that he suffered a bruise and precautionary X-rays were negative.
But the Tigers, beginning with a 25-pitch first inning, made Manoah work. They ended up getting seven hits off him and a lot of loud contact.
Riley Greene and Victor Reyes, the first two hitters in Hinch’s lineup, hit bullets in the first inning, both tracked and caught in center field by Tapia. They came around again in the third inning and with two outs, hit two more rockets. This time they were rewarded – back-to-back doubles tying the game 1-1.
In the fifth inning, again with two outs and the Tigers down 2-1, Greene walked, Reyes singled and Javier Báez was hit in the upper arm — bases loaded.
Harold Castro cashed it in with a two-run single, giving the Tigers a 3-2 lead.
The Tigers bullpen buttoned it up from there. Talk about your path to victory:
Vest, as he did Thursday, got four outs and Jason Foley pitched an impressive sixth — striking out Teoscar Hernandez and Gurriel. His sinker was hitting 98 mph.
Joe Jimenez was next. All he did was strike out the side in the sixth — Tapia, Santiago Espinal and Zack Collins. His four-seam fastball riding high in the zone at 96 and 97 mph.
Michael Fulmer, with his multi-purpose slider dotting all quadrants of the plate, struck out two in a scoreless eighth.
Leaving it to closer Gregory Soto, who hadn't pitched in a save situation since July 12. With the help of an outstanding play by Jeimer Candelario at third base to retire Gurriel to start the inning, earned his 19th save.
