TORONTO -- Drew Anderson had his best start since joining the Tigers’ rotation on Tuesday, pitching five scoreless innings as they routed the Blue Jays, 10-1, for their sixth straight win.
Detroit’s AL Wild Card chances are still slim -- they remain 4 1/2 games back of the final spot and entered play Tuesday with 1% playoff odds, according to FanGraphs. But Anderson did all he could to continue the Tigers’ improbable push.
Even with his fastball velocity down 1.4 mph from his season average (95.4 mph), Anderson crossed up Toronto hitters with a well-sequenced and well-located array of four-seamers, changeups, curveballs and sliders. He threw 88 pitches (58 strikes), and many were dotted on the edges of the zone.
“His fastball was pretty good today. I thought he had a pretty decent location down and away from righties,” manager A.J. Hinch said. “He did throw a couple changeups. ... He threw more sliders today. So he's got a lot of pitches to play with. And obviously throwing them to the right hitters is key, and he and Val did a really good job with the game plan.”
For a brief stretch in the third inning, Anderson’s control wavered, and he issued consecutive free passes to George Springer and Vladimir Guerrero Jr., walking the bases loaded. However, he escaped that jam by getting Alejandro Kirk to roll over on a curveball at the knees.
“We're just trying to put the ball in play, trying to get the out,” Eduardo Valencia said of how they approached the bases-loaded situation. “… Get a ground ball, and that's what happened. So really good for him.”
All told, the two hits Anderson allowed were on a softly hit ball and a grounder. He struck out four batters and elicited seven whiffs -- five on his pinpoint fastball.
The Tigers’ offense was hitless against the Blue Jays’ bullpen day until the arm meant to provide the bulk of their innings, Michael Lorenzen, entered in the fourth. The 34-year-old journeyman nearly had a clean inning, but the Tigers staged a two-out rally. Lorenzen lost the zone, walking Riley Greene and Valencia. Max Clark slashed an RBI double down the left-field line, and Spencer Torkelson broke the game open by crushing a hanging sweeper for a three-run blast.
“You're looking for a good pitch to hit, and then you get it. You don't want to miss it, for sure,” Torkelson said.
“We're controlling what we can control, and that's showing up every day and doing whatever we can to win, and that's showing,” he added.
Although Detroit didn’t record a hit until the four-run outburst, there were previous signs of life. Second baseman Ernie Clement robbed Valencia of a single with a diving stop, and Brett Bateman made a leaping catch at the wall on a drive from Kevin McGonigle in the third. Greene padded the Tigers’ lead with a 101.5 mph two-out RBI single off Lorenzen in the fifth, and John Peck singled home Torkelson in the sixth. A two-run throwing error by Kirk in the eighth, and a home run and RBI double by Hao-Yu Lee and Valencia in the ninth, respectively, made the game even more of a laugher.
But it was Anderson’s start that set the Tigers up to surge ahead. The 32-year-old pitched for Detroit at Spring Training in 2024, and performed well, but opted to sign in the KBO where he could maintain a consistent routine as a starter. After dominating with 245 strikeouts and a 2.25 ERA over 171 2/3 innings for the SSG Landers last season, he returned to the Tigers on a one-year prove-it deal.
Anderson made 38 of his first 40 appearances out of the bullpen this season, but he moved to the rotation after Detroit sent Tarik Skubal to the Dodgers at the Trade Deadline, and Anderson has posted a 2.58 ERA in eight starts since.
Anderson’s contract includes a $10 million team option for 2027, and if he keeps pitching like he did Tuesday and proves he can be a member of the starting rotation, it stands to reason the Tigers could pick that option up.