Zach McKinstry scores go-ahead run on error to help Tigers outlast Blue Jays 6-5

TORONTO (AP) — Zach McKinstry scored the winning run on a missed-catch error in the ninth inning after Brett Callahan hit a tying RBI single in the eighth, as the Detroit Tigers outlasted the Toronto Blue Jays 6-5 on Monday night.

McKinstry scored after Vladimir Guerrero Jr. fielded a dribbler and threw to first, where Toronto pitcher Louis Varland missed the throw.

Blue Jays starter José Soriano threw 6 1/3 innings, working a perfect game through five innings, before the Tigers scored four runs off five hits in the seventh.

Dillon Dingler opened the seventh-inning scoring with an RBI single before Max Clark tacked on a two-run double for a 3-2 Detroit lead. Spencer Torkelson extended the lead to 4-2 with an RBI double.

Callahan’s RBI single in the eighth tied the game at 5, before McKinstry scored the winning run to help Detroit clinch game one of the series.

Tyler Kinley (7-5) worked a hitless eighth inning, and Kenley Jansen sealed his 20th save of the season with a hitless ninth. Starter Troy Melton pitched 2 2/3 innings, his shortest outing of the year, giving up two runs on five hits.

Kazuma Okamoto hit a three-run homer for the Blue Jays in the seventh inning. With his 33rd home run of the season, Okamoto established a single-season home run record for right-handed hitters from Japan, passing Seiya Suzuki’s mark of 32.

Alejandro Kirk had an RBI single and George Springer scored on a wild pitch in the first inning for Toronto.

Varland (5-6) surrendered the winning run.

Up next

Tigers’ RHP Drew Anderson (4-6, 3.80 ERA) starts game two of the series against Toronto, which has yet to announce a starter, on Tuesday.

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