In yet another stellar start, rookie right-hander Michael Fulmer allowed two hits over six innings, and Justin Upton and James McCann homered to lead the Detroit Tigers to an 11-0 home victory over the Toronto Blue Jays on Monday night.
The Tigers acquired Fulmer last year in the trade that sent Yoenis Cespedes to the New York Mets. The 23-year-old has won four consecutive starts, allowing only one run over that span.
“It’s been fun,” Fulmer (6-1) said. “I love this team, and I think we’re going to stay hot.” The rookie struck out five and walked three in his third straight start without allowing a run. He has also now become the first Tiger in history to throw three consecutive scoreless outings of six innings or more with three or fewer hits, according to Baseball-Reference.com. Detroit has now won four straight games.
“All of a sudden, now you feel like (Justin) Verlander, (Jordan) Zimmerman, Fulmer — they keep pitching like they’re pitching, that’s a pretty good top three,” manager Brad Ausmus said.
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Toronto infielder Darwin Barney’s groundball single in the third slipped through after second baseman Ian Kinsler initially moved toward second while the ball went to the area he’d vacated.
In the fifth, Barney’s soft roller toward the mound got past Fulmer for an infield single. The Tigers pulled Fulmer after 88 pitches and a giant lead.
The Blue Jays played a mediocre game from almost the very beginning. Center fielder Kevin Pillar stepped in on Nick Castellanos‘ deep line drive in the second, and he found himself unable to recover in time to stop the ball from flying over his head for a triple. McCann’s three-run homer later in the inning made it 3-0.
Kinsler added a single in the second and scored on a balk, a passed ball and a wild pitch.
“I’m not sure how much I can dissect that game,” Toronto manager John Gibbons said. “We were bad in every phase, and that kid, Fulmer, pitched a heck of a game against us.”
In the third, Upton hit his fourth homer of the season, an opposite-field shot off the railing just above the fence in right-field, to make it 6-0. Detroit then scored three runs on three RBI singles, and J.D. Martinez doubled in the eighth.
Toronto left-hander J.A. Happ (6-3) allowed six runs and six hits in five innings.
Emergency personnel attended to a woman behind the first-base dugout after a line drive was hit to that area in the bottom of the seventh. She appeared to be fine, and the game continued. She later walked out holding what appeared to be an ice pack on her head.
The two teams will next face up again at Comerica Park in Detroit on Tuesday night. Detroit will start left-hander Matt Boyd (0-1) against his former team. The Blue Jays (31-28, 3rd in AL East) traded Boyd to the Tigers (29-28, 3rd in AL Central) last year in the deal that sent David Price to Toronto.
Right-hander Aaron Sanchez (5-1) will start for Toronto.
PHOTO: DETROIT, MI – JUNE 6: Michael Fulmer #32 of the Detroit Tigers pitches against the Toronto Blue Jays during the first inning at Comerica Park on June 6, 2016 in Detroit, Michigan. Fuller recorded his sixth win, 11-0 over the Blue Jays. (Photo by Duane Burleson/Getty Images)
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