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Kiermaier HRs, makes great catch, Blue Jays beat Tigers 9-3

By IAN HARRISON
Updated  April 11, 2023 10:56pm EDT
Detroit Tigers
Associated Press

TORONTO - Kevin Kiermaier hit a solo home run and made a sensational leaping catch at the wall, Alejandro Kirk hit a three-run blast and the Toronto Blue Jays homered five times in a 9-3 win over the Detroit Tigers Tuesday.

George Springer, Matt Chapman, and Bo Bichette all hit solo blasts as the Blue Jays won their home opener in front of a sellout crowd of 42,053.

Nick Maton hit a three-run home run but Detroit lost its fifth straight.

Kiermaier turned in a highlight reel play in the first game at a reconfigured Rogers Centre, where the deepest section of the new outfield wall drops down to eight feet in height. The three-time Gold Glove award winner soared over the center field fence in the second inning for a home-run-saving grab on Detroit DH Kerry Carpenter’s deep drive.

Chapman connected in the fourth, his third. Kiermaier and Springer went deep on consecutive pitches from Tigers right-hander Matt Manning in the fifth, turning a 3-2 deficit into a 4-3 lead.

Bichette hit a leadoff blast off Mason Englert in the eighth, his fourth. Brandon Belt added an RBI single before Kirk hit his first homer of the season.

Zach Pop (1-0) worked 1 2/3 innings for the win as the Blue Jays won their second straight home opener.

Maton gave the Tigers an early lead when he connected in the second, his first. Detroit loaded the bases after Maton’s blast but didn’t score again.

The Tigers stranded two more runners in the third against Blue Jays right-hander Alek Manoah.

Manning (1-1) allowed four runs and six hits in six innings.

Manoah allowed three runs and four hits in 4 1/3 innings. He walked five and struck out three.

Carpenter drew a leadoff walk in the third when Manoah was called for a pitch clock violation with a 3-0 count.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Tigers: RHP Beau Brieske has been cleared to resume throwing later this week after undergoing a procedure to relieve a right ulnar nerve entrapment.

HALL OF FAME FRED

Former Blue Jays slugger and recent Hall of Fame inductee Fred McGriff threw out the first pitch. McGriff hit 493 career homers, including the first blast at SkyDome, as it was called then, in 1989.

UP NEXT

Blue Jays RHP Kevin Gausman (1-1, 0.00) starts Wednesday against Tigers LHP Eduardo Rodriguez (0-2, 6.30). Gausman has yet to allow an earned run over 12 innings.