Blue Jays earn critical 5-1 win over Tigers to keep pace in AL wild-card chase

By: John Chidley-Hill, The Canadian Press Posted: 4:44 PM CDT Wednesday, Sep. 16, 2026

TORONTO - Ernie Clement had a sacrifice fly in the fourth inning and Myles Straw followed it up with an RBI single as the Toronto Blue Jays earned a critical 5-1 win over the Detroit Tigers on Wednesday.

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TORONTO – Ernie Clement had a sacrifice fly in the fourth inning and Myles Straw followed it up with an RBI single as the Toronto Blue Jays earned a critical 5-1 win over the Detroit Tigers on Wednesday.

George Springer tacked on a run with an RBI single in the fifth as Toronto (76-77) kept its playoff hopes alive with the win.

The Cleveland Guardians beat Chicago 6-3 earlier in the day to take the lead in the American League Central. The White Sox now hold the AL’s third and final wild-card berth and the Blue Jays are 1 1/2 games behind them.

Toronto Blue Jays catcher Brandon Valenzuela (59) tries to tag out Detroit Tigers Colt Keith (33) as he scores a run during first inning MLB baseball action in Toronto on Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2026. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette

Brandon Valenzuela’s fielder’s choice scored Clement in the sixth and Nathan Lukes’s dribbler up the first-base line allowed Valenzuela to score that same inning.

Max Scherzer (3-8) pitched five innings of one-run ball, allowing three hits and three walks but striking out three.

Mason Fluharty, Spencer Miles and Louis Varland combined for four scoreless innings to preserve the win.

Riley Greene’s RBI single in the first helped Detroit (72-80) jump out to an early lead.

Keider Montero (9-9) allowed two runs on six hits and two walks, striking out four over four innings. Tyler Holton, Drew Sommers, and Tyler Kinley came out of the visitors’ bullpen at Rogers Centre.

Takeaways

Tigers: Detroit had been the hottest team in the American League entering the matinee with five consecutive wins. The Tigers didn’t look so sharp on Wednesday, however, giving up three errors in the fifth inning while allowing Toronto to add two runs to its lead.

Blue Jays: Scherzer had his best start in three outings, keeping Toronto in the game long enough for Clement and Straw to drive in some runs. Scherzer had given up six runs over five innings on Sept. 11 in a 7-4 loss to the Baltimore Orioles and three runs over 5 2/3 innings in a 4-3 win over the Kansas City Royals on Sept. 5.

Key moment

With one out and runners on first and second in the ninth, Tigers shortstop John Peck hit a Varland pitch sharply for what seemed like at least a single. Toronto second baseman Josh Smith snagged the line drive out of the air to hold the runners.

Key stat