Detroit Tigers score: Right-hander Reese Olson was cruising until giving up five runs in the sixth inning of an 11-4 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays.
Detroit Tigers manager A.J. Hinch made the right decision based on the data, but his decision backfired because of one bad pitch from right-hander Reese Olson.
In the sixth inning, the Tigers intentionally walked left-handed hitter Addison Barger, who has an .893 OPS against righties, to put runners on the corners for right-handed hitter Ernie Clement, who has a .543 OPS against righties.
Olson hung a slider.
And Clement hit a three-run home run.
The Tigers lost, 11-4, to the Blue Jays on Thursday, July 24, in the first of four games in the series at Comerica Park, losing for the 10th time in the past 11 games. Position player Jake Rogers pitched for the Tigers in the ninth inning.
The Tigers (60-44) have a 1-10 record since July 9 and a 14-19 record since June 14.
Facing the Blue Jays, the Tigers were limited to four runs on nine hits and zero walks, scoring three runs (on four hits) off right-handed reliever Chad Green in the ninth inning.
Meanwhile, the Tigers' pitching staff surrendered 11 runs within a stretch of three innings: five in the sixth, four runs in the seventh and two in the eighth.
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Before Clement's three-run homer, Olson walked George Springer and allowed an RBI double to Vladimir Guerrero Jr. for the Blue Jays' first run of the game. After Clement's homer, Joey Loperfido pulled Olson's changeup for a solo home run.
The five-run sixth put the Blue Jays ahead, 5-1.
Olson allowed five runs on six hits and two walks with four strikeouts across 5⅔ innings, throwing 95 pitches. The 25-year-old has a 3.15 ERA in 13 starts.
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Jahmai Jones hits home run
The Tigers started Thursday on a positive note.
Almost everything went downhill from there.
Jahmai Jones hit a solo home run with one out in the first inning, connecting on a 90.9 mph four-seam fastball from left-hander Eric Lauer.
It was his second homer in his past five plate appearances.
Jones' homer was nearly all of the offense until the ninth inning, when Spencer Torkelson hit a solo home run — his 22nd in 98 games. After that, the Tigers scored their third run on Wenceel Pérez's groundout and their fourth run on Colt Keith's single.
The Tigers failed to draw a walk for the second game in a row. Before then, the Tigers had just two games in their first 102 without a walk.
Relievers Dietrich Enns, Geoff Hartlieb rocked by Blue Jays
Left-handed reliever Dietrich Enns allowed four runs in the seventh inning; right-handed reliever Geoff Hartlieb — selected before Thursday's game from Triple-A Toledo — allowed two runs in the eighth inning.
Nathan Lukes capped the scoring by destroying Hartlieb's hanging slider for a two-run home run, making it 11-1 with one out in the eighth inning.
Enns has a 5.71 ERA in 17⅓ innings this season.
Hartlieb has an 8.04 ERA in 81⅔ innings in his career.
In 2025, the Tigers' bullpen ranks 20th among 30 MLB teams with a 4.03 ERA.
Contact Evan Petzold at [email protected] or follow him @EvanPetzold.
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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Tigers lose for 10th time in 11 games after Reese Olson bashed
Category: Baseball
