Slumping Tigers take BP on field

TORONTO -- Normally, a road series starting with a day game after a long flight would be an easy decision for a morning to hit in the cages, rather than on the field. The way the Tigers offense is going, this wasn't one of those times.

The Tigers hit on the field Monday morning while fans began packing Rogers Centre for the Blue Jays' traditional Canada Day matinee. Granted, Detroit had other reasons to hit on the field, not the least of which was to get accustomed to the surroundings and the turf. Still, they lost for the sixth time in seven games, an 8-3 decision to the Blue Jays.

Still, for a team that managed just four runs over its previous two games -- both losses at Tampa Bay -- the extra hitting couldn't hurt.

Manager Jim Leyland, perhaps understandably, sounded Monday morning like he was ready to put the series against the Rays in the past.

"I don't think it was such a bad weekend," Leyland said. "We won one and lost two. We could've won one of the other ones."

The one major change in the lineup on Monday was Omar Infante's bump to the seventh spot in the batting order, dropping Andy Dirks to eighth. Part of that was Infante's history against knuckleballer R.A. Dickey, against whom he was 13-for-28 entering the day.