TORONTO — Blue Jays starter Alek Manoah had just given up a solo home run to Willi Castro when his night got even worse. Tigers second baseman Jonathan Schoop hit a comebacker that went off of Manoah’s throwing elbow, dropping the burly Toronto ace to his knees.
The ball bounced toward shortstop Santiago Espinal, who got the out at first but Manoah missed the whole play. Head athletic trainer Jose Julian Ministral immediately came out of the Blue Jays’ dugout to check Manoah and ultimately made the call to pull him from the game.
“I showed (Ministral) where it got me and he was like, ‘does it hurt?’ I mean, I think it was more just the initial shock,” Manoah said, recounting the conversation with the trainer. “And then I said, ‘Did we get the out?’ ‘Yeah.’
“‘O.K., let me throw a couple more,’ and he said, ‘Are you crazy?'”
Victor Reyes had an RBI double and Harold Castro drove in two runs with a single as the Tigers went on to beat Toronto 4-2 on Friday.
Manoah (11-5) gave up seven hits and a walk for four runs, striking out four over 5 1/3 innings before being pulled with a right elbow contusion.
Manoah had X-rays after leaving the game that came back negative.
“Honestly, I didn’t even think I needed the X-ray but, you know, they wanted it as a precaution,” said Manoah, who didn’t have ice on his elbow during post-game interviews and even poked it a few times.
“Everything was negative, everything was clean, so we’ll get back on the horse and get back out there in five days.”
Blue Jays interim manager John Schneider said that Manoah was nearing the end of his night anyway, as he was up to 87 pitches and struggling with his command.
“He’s competitive as hell and he wanted to stay in but it was a pretty easy decision to get him out just to be safe,” said Schneider, who noted that reliever Tim Mayza was already warming up in Toronto’s bullpen when Manoah was hurt.
Mayza, David Phelps, Anthony Banda, and Max Castillo held the Tigers scoreless for the rest of the game.
Matt Chapman’s solo home run and Raimel Tapia’s RBI single were all the offence Toronto (55-45) could scratch together.
Bryan Garcia allowed two runs on three hits and two walks with three strikeouts over 3 2/3 innings. Will Vest (3-2), Jason Foley, Joe Jiménez, Michael Fulmer and Gregory Soto pitched relief for the Tigers (41-60).
Chapman brought the 28,046 fans at Rogers Centre to their feet in the second inning, hitting his 19th home run of the season to the deepest part of the ballpark for a 1-0 Blue Jays lead.
Reyes tied it up in the next inning, with his hit bouncing past a sliding Teoscar Hernandez in right field for a double. That scored Riley Greene to make it 1-1.
Tapia’s single gave Toronto its second lead of the game in the fourth. His hit to left gave Gurriel enough time to slide into home to make it 2-1.
Detroit answered right back in the fifth, putting together a rally with two outs. Greene walked, Reyes singled, and then Javier Baez was hit by a Manoah pitch to load the bases. Harold Castro’s single brought home Greene and Reyes for a 3-2 Tigers lead.
Willi Castro padded that lead in the sixth, hitting his fourth home run of the season into the Tigers’ dugout in right field.
SPRINGER REST — Blue Jays outfielder George Springer was in visible discomfort after making big throws from deep right field in the eighth inning of Toronto’s 5-3 win over Detroit on Thursday. He was given Friday off but Schneider said Springer was available off the bench and was due for a rest anyway.
BICHETTE SORE — Toronto shortstop Bo Bichette was also held out of the lineup on Friday with a sore left shoulder. Schneider said that he was hurt after colliding with Gurriel while tracking down a fly ball in shallow left field the night before. Bichette did come into the game in the ninth inning, pinch hitting for Tapia.
UP NEXT — Ross Stripling (5-3) is set to get the start on Saturday afternoon as Toronto continues its series against the Tigers. Former Blue Jays pitcher Drew Hutchison (1-4) will take the mound for Detroit.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 29, 2022.
