TORONTO — Detroit Tigers third baseman Ryan Kreidler and catcher Eric Haase threw their hands in the air simultaneously while Toronto Blue Jays slugger Vladimir Guerrero Jr. received a free pass to home plate.
Manager A.J. Hinch bounced out of the dugout for a conversation with third base umpire Erich Bacchus. The Tigers were charged with obstruction, as determined by the umpire, which allowed the Blue Jays to even the score in the fourth inning of Wednesday’s game at the Rogers Centre.
“It’s just one of those things,” Haase said.
The obstruction call changed the scoreboard but didn’t deter the Tigers. What hurt the Tigers was right-handed reliever Trey Wingenter’s inability to dominate the strike zone in the ninth inning. The Blue Jays took advantage and forced extra innings, and the Tigers lost, 4-3, in the 10th inning on a walk-off single from George Springer.
The Tigers (2-9) have lost six games in a row.
“The boys were in a position to win a game,” Wingenter said. “We’re on a skid, and they trust me to close the thing out. I let the boys down there. That was definitely on me. … I felt good going in and had a good plan with the hitters. I like to be aggressive. I like to attack guys. A couple got away from me. It just wasn’t my night.”
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Before the obstruction play, the Blue Jays had runners on first and second base with two outs in the fourth inning. Shortstop Javier Báez backhanded a grounder beyond the infield dirt in the shallowest part of left field. Since Báez went for the ball, Kreidler positioned himself to cover third base, but at the same time, Guerrero turned the corner and chugged for home plate.
Kreidler was in the baseline when Guerrero rounded third base.
The Tigers tagged Guerrero out on the basepath, thanks to a dart from Báez, but their efforts didn’t matter because of the obstruction call. Guerrero, looking surprised, trotted home to tie the game, 1-1, with two outs in the fourth.
“I didn’t feel good about it going out there because I didn’t like the explanation,” Hinch said. “When the umpire sees obstruction, and he thought (Guerrero) had a chance to score, he awards him the extra base. Hard to understand how he’s going to have a chance to score on that ball. We had the ball at shortstop and threw a one-hopper to home, and he retreats and goes the other way and doesn’t continue to home and still gets awarded the base. By rule, that’s what he called. I don’t think we agreed at what we both saw.”
Kerry Carpenter, who crushed 36 home runs in the minors and majors last season, put the Tigers ahead, 3-1, with a two-run blast off right-hander Kevin Gausman’s fastball. His first homer this season came at the perfect time, with two outs in the seventh inning.
After taking a 3-1 lead, the Tigers trusted the bullpen to hold the two-run advantage. A pair of right-handed relievers — Jason Foley and Alex Lange — slammed the door in the seventh and eighth innings.
Lange threw 12 pitches (and struck out two batters) but didn’t return for the ninth.
“Obviously, at the end it always looks like you could do something different,” Hinch said when asked about Lange’s availability for the ninth. “But it’s not the way we went.”
Hinch added: “I feel like we have to try to get 27 outs, and we have to get there a lot of different ways. Obviously, when you got to get nine (outs), you got to go through that order a full time again. We just didn’t get it done.”
Wingenter, who has pitched in five MLB games since 2019, took over in search of his first save since the 2019 season. Guerrero singled to open the bottom of the ninth, Matt Chapman walked on four pitches and Daulton Varsho was hit by a pitch to load the bases.
Left-hander Chasen Shreve replaced Wingenter with the bases loaded and no outs. Whit Merrifield cut the Tigers’ lead to 3-2 with a sacrifice fly, and pinch-hitter Alejandro Kirk knotted the score, 3-3, with another sacrifice fly.
The Blue Jays ended the game in the 10th inning against righty José Cisnero, who replaced Shreve to face Springer with one out and a runner on third base. Before that, Báez — the free runner in extra innings — advanced to third base with one out but was stranded by Spencer Torkelson’s flyout and Haase’s groundout.
Wolfie bites again
The Tigers scored first in the top of the fourth inning.
Nick Maton drilled a home run against the Blue Jays for the second straight night at the Rogers Centre. This time, he tagged a high-and-outside fastball from Gausman for a 408-foot solo shot to straightaway center field.
It was the Tigers’ first hit off Gausman.
“It’s tough losing a game like that,” Maton said. “But the only thing we can do is come back tomorrow and keep grinding and keep putting us in situations to win. We have a good club, and I still believe that. It’ll start clicking. Everyone is pushing for each other. It’ll start going.”
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Gausman allowed three runs on four hits with zero walks and nine strikeouts across eight innings, throwing 77 of 103 pitches for strikes. He generated 20 whiffs with four fastballs, 14 splitters and two sliders, and his velocity — across the board — was significantly higher than his typical pitch speeds.
In the sixth inning, Haase hit a leadoff double before running into an out between second and third base on a grounder hit to the shortstop.
“It’s a bad mistake is the way I look at it,” Hinch said. “He’s been around too long to make the mistake.”
On the next play, Matt Vierling was thrown out trying to steal second base.
He didn’t slide.
“I have no idea,” Hinch said. “Guys don’t run to second and don’t slide, so you’ll have to talk to him.”
E-Rod navigates Blue Jays
While Gausman pitched deep into the game, Rodriguez turned in a quality start for the Tigers. He allowed one run on seven hits and one walk with three strikeouts, throwing 64 of 96 pitches for strikes.
If it weren’t for the obstruction, the Blue Jays would not have scored against him.
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Two defensive plays helped save runs in the first inning. After Springer’s leadoff single, Bo Bichette grounded into a double play. The next batter, Guerrero, worked a walk but was thrown out on the bases trying to score from first base on Chapman’s double to right-center field.
The Tigers executed a perfect inning-ending relay, from right fielder Vierling to second baseman Maton to catcher Haase. Carpenter, playing left field, threw out Chapman trying to advance from first base to third base on a single from Varsho to end the sixth inning.
Rodriguez recorded eight whiffs and 18 called strikes.
Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him on Twitter @EvanPetzold.