Inside the Article:
Friday night against the Toronto Blue Jays didn’t go according to plan for the Detroit Tigers, and it was manager A.J. Hinch who kept himself honest after what was a dominating 12-2 win for the Jays in the opener of the series.
Alex Faedo’s return started well at first
It was pitcher Alex Faedo making his return to action on Friday night, and he pitched well against Toronto in the first few innings of his start and retired the first eight batters he faced. But unfortunately, things fell apart in the 4th inning when Toronto would put six runs up on the scoreboard. The inning would be capped by a two-run home run from George Springer.
“Lots of pros and lots of cons,” Faedo said of his performance. “I thought the first three innings went really great. The fourth inning went how it went. Looking back, there was some good and some bad but I have to be able to limit the damage in the fourth.”
A.J. Hinch was kept honest afterward
For Hinch, the damage came fast.
“When Springer hit the homer, you kick yourself,” Hinch said. “That’s managing 101. As you can see, we ended up going to (Jose) Cisnero in a down game, down a lot (in the ninth). We were pretty thin down there. We needed to stretch Alex as much as we could. Results-wise, no it didn’t feel very good when we bring Englert in there’s five innings I’ve got to get through. We were in a bad spot.
“He got into the game great,” Hinch said of Faedo. “He came out pretty sharp. That’s not an easy lineup to navigate. Then the lead-off walk in the fourth started the big inning.”
Key Points
- The Blue Jays dominated the Tigers, winnings 12-2 on Friday night
- Alex Faedo’s return to the lineup started well but fell apart in the 4th inning
- A.J. Hinch stayed honest after the game
Bottom Line
The Tigers can exact some revenge against the Blue Jays when the two teams reconvene for the second game of their series this afternoon.
The Tigers will be sending Matt Manning to the bump as they look to even things up against their rivals from north of the border.
