Alek Manoah’s magic dies as Blue Jays bats fall silent in loss to Tigers

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Alek Manoah arrived in the Motor City hoping for more good times.

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In his previous two starts – a 14-inning stretch in which he allowed no earned runs – the big right-hander looked like the Alek Manoah of old, confident, intimidating and almost untouchable.

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Additionally, the Jays entered the second of a four-game series in Detroit after finally finding their rhythm at the plate.

No one, however, thought the Jays had turned the corner, nor was anyone suggesting that Manoah had fully recovered from the struggles that took him all the way to the lower levels of the minors.
There are, however, signs of encouragement on both fronts.

Then Friday came and concerns resurfaced in Toronto’s 6-2 loss to the Tigers.

Manoah lacked control and lasted just 4.2 innings, allowing six runs – four earned – including two home runs to Detroit.

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A two-out walk set the stage for a two-run bomb in the fifth inning by Kerry Carpenter, ending Manoah’s day. But signs of distress were visible in the fourth inning when the host Tigers put Manoah and the Jays on the ropes.

Even if Manoah had pitched like he did in recent starts against Minnesota and Tampa, the Jays needed to call on their bats against veteran Detroit starter Kenta Maeda, who had just been activated.

The Jays actually outscored the Tigers 10-7 and produced two hits with two outs in the first inning, only to see Vlad Guerrero Jr., who had doubled, get thrown out at the plate after Bo Bichette’s single.

The Jays avoided getting a shutout for the second time in four games when soft contact found holes in the ninth inning with two outs, prompting the Tigers to come closer to close out the game.

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Bad pitching, bad hitting, bad defense, it looked like a bad night and that’s exactly how it all played out.

FIELD OF SCREAMING

To borrow a phrase from the iconic Ed Whalen: “There was a malfunction at the junction.” »

For the Jays, it happened in the half of the fourth.

It would start with a shallow fly ball off the bat of the Tigers’ Matt Vierling to left center.

Daulton Varsho, who was on the left, and center back Kevin Kiermaier – who had a lot more ground to cover – headed for the ball. Neither found the trap because no one bothered to communicate. Kiermaier cut in front of Varsho and as he tried to avoid what would have been a nasty collision, the ball slammed into his glove. The official scorer accused Kiermaier of an error.

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If Kiermaier had taken control of the situation, the game would have been somewhat routine.

Varsho made a nice running catch to end the inning on a backhand trap that saved two runs.

Varsho and Kiermaier, two players known for their defensive skills and high baseball IQs, left the field in unison, likely discussing their mental error.

Frisky foal

Young Tigers infielder Colt Keith drove in the first run of the night on a no-doubt homer off Manoah in the second inning – the first of his career.

In Detroit’s fourth three-point game, he was also involved. Right after Kiermaier’s no-out error, Keith was plated by Manoah with the bases loaded, making it 3-0.

It could have been a lot worse, but Manoah stepped back and got the next three batters on a strikeout, an RBI groundout and Carson Kelly’s fielder to deep left that Varsho caught.

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In four innings, Manoah’s pitch count had reached 79, an indication of the damage that would soon be inflicted.

GO OLD SCHOOL

For those who missed it, the power went out at Comerica Park during the series opener Thursday, creating all kinds of havoc in a time when staying connected to the Internet is akin to breathing.

To review: no relay review until the end of the inning, no reading when applied to the radar gun, no access to iPads, while fans on both sides of the border had to cope to technical issues while watching from the comfort of their homes.

“Really weird,” Isiah Kiner-Falefa told reporters after Toronto’s victory. “It was quite refreshing. When we found out what was going on, it was kind of old-fashioned baseball. These are your eyes. Your teammates have to talk and you have to rely on each other more, rather than just going out and looking at the screen and looking at the stats.

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“It was a flash from the past and it made us feel like a child.”

Imagine a professional athlete having to rely on basic instincts, with teammates forced to talk to each other instead of looking into a laptop.

For at least a few hours, it was old-fashioned baseball at its finest.

No such issues though on Friday night, when everything was back to normal, resorting and relying on all the many numbers and reads that continue to drive the game.

Fans of another vintage no doubt appreciate the simpler times when baseball was much less complicated.

Those days are long gone and will never return.

FUTURE

The Tigers will start Reese Olson on Saturday and Casey Mize in the series finale on Sunday when first pitch is scheduled for 11:35 a.m. Jose Berrios and Yusei Kikuchi are Toronto’s scheduled starters.

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