www.dallascowboysteamonline.com

[hongwei28]

TORONTO — The Detroit Tigers will start a former Toronto Blue Jays left-hander Saturday afternoon for the second game in a row in another attempt to end a losing streak that has reached 10 games.

Former Blue Jays left-hander Francisco Liriano could not do the job Friday night — allowing three runs in six innings — as the Blue Jays defeated the Tigers 3-2 in the opener of a four-game series at the Rogers Centre.

This time , the former Blue Jay is Matt Boyd (4-6, 4.15 ERA), who will face Toronto right-hander Sam Gaviglio (2-2, 3.98) in the second game of the series.

The Tigers (36-47), who are 13-26 on the road, have lost 10 games in a row for the first time since Sept. 13-22, 2003, the season in which they lost 119 games.

“We had some opportunities, but it’s the same story,” Tigers manager Ron Gardenhire said. “You pitch really good and you don’t score, or you don’t pitch good enough and it just extends on. The guys are really trying, they’re bothered out there and they’re frustrated. They want to win, the guys are really pushing hard in the dugout, but it’s just not happening right now.”

The Tigers have lost 11 of their past 13 games in Toronto.

The Blue Jays (38-43), who were returning from a 3-4 road trip that easily could have been better, have won nine of their past 10 home games. They are 21-20 at home.

Boyd took the loss Sunday at Cleveland when he allowed six runs, eight hits and two walks while striking out five in three innings.

The start Saturday will be his 16th of the season.

In four career starts against the Blue Jays, Boyd is 0-1 with a 4.24 ERA. He did not factor in the decision June 2 against Toronto at Comerica Park when he gave up four runs, six hits and two walks in seven innings. He struck out three.

Boyd, who was sent to the Tigers July 30, 2015, as part of the trade that sent David Price to the Blue Jays, is 0-3 with an 8.66 ERA in four career starts at the Rogers Centre.

Gaviglio will be making his 10th appearance and eighth start of the season.

In his past three starts, he is 0-1 with a 7.50 ERA and has pitched only 12 innings.

He has faced the Tigers once in his career, allowing two runs in five innings in a no decision.

The Tigers have been outscored 64-26 during their losing streak.

Before the game Friday , the Blue Jays selected the contract of utility player Darnell Sweeney from Triple-A Buffalo. He was batting .232 with six homers and 21 RBIs in 47 games. He has played all infield positions except first base, both corner outfield positions and also pitched a scoreless inning.

Sweeney takes the roster spot of outfielder Steve Pearce, who was traded Thursday night to the Boston Red Sox for shortstop Santiago Espinal, who will play at Class A Dunedin.

Moving Pearce means that Kendrys Morales will again see regular use as the designated hitter and breaks up a logjam in the outfield. The Blue Jays return to four outfielders with Teoscar Hernandez, Randal Grichuk, Kevin Pillar and Curtis Granderson.

Espinal, 23, batted .313 with seven homers and 32 RBIs in 65 games with Class A Salem in the Red Sox organization.

“Middle-of-the-diamond players, you can’t have enough of them,” Blue Jays general manager Ross Atkins said Friday. “The athleticism, that’s where it all begins. If you can play in the middle, you can often play anywhere else, so that’s first and foremost. (Espinal) is an above-average runner and performing well at a decent level, so there’s plenty to like.”

BALTIMORE — Don Mattingly and Buck Showalter have a long association with each other, going back to their days as minor league teammates with the New York Yankees.

Their relationship continued from 1990 to 1995 when Showalter coached and then managed Mattingly during his final six seasons with the Yankees, culminating in New York’s first playoff appearance since 1981.

These days, both are presiding over last-place teams.

Things are better for Mattingly’s Miami Marlins, who go for a three-game sweep Sunday at Camden Yards over Showalter’s Baltimore Orioles, who are on a nine-game losing streak.

The Marlins opened the series with a 2-0 victory and followed by getting two homers to center field from J.T. Realmuto in Saturday’s 5-4 win.

Realmuto drove in four runs and posted his fourth multi-homer game for the Marlins (28-43), who are 8-4 in their last 12 games and within striking distance of the fourth-place New York Mets in the National League East.

“JT’s been great on both sides defensively and offensively calling the game, everything about him’s been great,” Mattingly told reporters.

Realmuto missed the first three weeks of the season with a bruised back but is hitting .309 with nine home runs and 26 RBIs.

Meanwhile, Baltimore is on its longest losing streak since also dropping nine straight in July 2011 when Showalter was in his first full season at the helm.

The Orioles (19-50) also tied the 2007 club record with their 11th straight home loss. Their next setback will give them a double-digit losing streak for the first time since May 26-June 5, 2010 — two months before Showalter took the job.

Manny Machado is doing his part for the worst team in baseball by hitting .308 with 18 homers and 52 RBIs. He drove in two runs Saturday and Jonathan Schoop homered.

Chris Davis, who is batting .150 with 86 strikeouts , has yet to see an at-bat in the series and could sit again Sunday for the Orioles, who own a .225 team average.

“I’d love to get back Chris Davis that we all know he’s capable of,” Showalter told reporters Friday. “It hasn’t been there this year, but with kind of a new approach and some new things you’re trying, all of a sudden you do it.”

The Orioles lost 50 of their first 68 games for the first time since 1988 when they opened with 21 straight losses. Baltimore also is 28 1/2 games behind the New York Yankees in the American League East.

On a team with a 4.88 ERA, Dylan Bundy (4-7, 3.66 ERA) is the closest thing to an ace for Baltimore. Bundy turned in eight scoreless innings when he allowed three hits Monday in Baltimore’s 2-0 loss in 12 innings to the Boston Red Sox.

Bundy’s last start occurred after he pitched seven sharp innings in a 1-0 victory over the New York Mets on June 6 at Citi Field.

Monday was the fourth time this season that Bundy did not allow a run.. He has not given up a run in 17 innings since Washington’s Mark Reynolds homered off him in the fourth inning on May 29.

“You could say that (it’s a good run),” Bundy told reporters. “Body feels good, arm feels great. Just taking the ball every five days and trying to give our team a chance to win.”

Sunday is Bundy’s first career appearance against the Marlins. In seven (six starts) interleague games, he is 4-2 with a 2.39 ERA.

Trevor Richards (1-3, 4.41 ERA) will make his eighth career start for Miami after his first career victory.

Richards picked up his first win Tuesday when he allowed one run and two hits in six innings of a 3-1 win over the San Francisco Giants.

On a team looking for young pitching, Richards has been among the more positive developments. Richards, undrafted out of Drury College, was Miami’s minor league pitcher of the year in 2017 in at two levels and made his major league debut April 2.

In his seven starts, Richards has allowed three runs or fewer five times and owns two scoreless outings on April 14 against the Pittsburgh Pirates and April 25 at the Los Angeles Dodgers.

“He’s been a good story, he’s thrown the ball well,” Mattingly told reporters. “Obviously, pitcher of the year last year in the minor leagues, really good reports on his makeup and how he works, competes, and pays attention, so it’s good to see guys like that have success.”