º£½ÇÉçÇø¹ÙÍø

The latest setback occurred on Friday night, when Bowden Francis served up a pair of home runs while the offence came up short in its bid for a comeback and the end result was a 5-4 loss to the Detroit Tigers at the Rogers Centre. The Jays have lost three of their last four games after last week’s four-game win streak.

Trouble with the RISP

The Jays have been putting a lot of runners on base in the first inning lately. They just aren’t doing much with the opportunities. On Wednesday and Thursday against the Tampa Bay Rays, George Springer grounded into an inning-ending double-play with runners on the corners. On Friday, Springer had an opportunity to drive in Bo Bichette after a leadoff double, but failed to get the job done just like Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Daulton Varsho before him. Springer grounded out to second. Instead of an early lead, the Jays were soon forced to play catch-up.

Damaging dingers

Even when Francis is at his best, he often has trouble keeping the ball in the park. That was the case on Friday as Riley Greene opened the scoring in the second with a solo homer to centre. In the fourth, Zach McKinstry delivered a solo shot of his own as the Tigers increased their lead to two. Francis has surrendered 14 home runs this season, the most in the majors. It’s also just three fewer than he allowed in 103 2/3 innings last year; this season, he’s only at 46 1/3. The Tigers scored two more in the fifth on a double by Greene before Francis was pulled midway through that inning, having allowed four runs on eight hits and two walks.

Vaulting Varsho

The first positive for the Jays didn’t occur until in the sixth inning, when Varsho hit a two-run homer to left field. That was his sixth home run of the season, which moved him into sole possession of the team lead even though he missed the first month following surgery to repair a torn rotator cuff. The Jays and Tigers then exchanged runs before Bichette made the score 5-4 in the eighth with his fourth home run, but that was as close as they would get. Pinch-hitter Ernie Clement grounded out in the ninth, stranding the tying run at second.