By Canadian Press

Teoscar Hernandez sparks four-run fourth inning as Blue Jays down Tigers 6-0

Mar 29, 2019 | 8:15 PM

TORONTO — Teoscar Hernandez had a two-run single as part of a four-run fourth inning and the Toronto Blue Jays earned a 6-0 win over the Detroit Tigers on Friday night.

Freddy Galvis also had a two-run hit in the inning for the Blue Jays (1-1), and Justin Smoak had a two-run single of his own in the sixth.

Matt Shoemaker (1-0) pitched seven scoreless innings, giving up just two hits and striking out seven for Toronto.

Javy Guerra pitched two scoreless innings of relief to back Shoemaker’s solid performance.

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Matthew Boyd (0-1) looked dominant for Detroit (1-1) in the first three innings, but gave up four runs — three earned — in the fourth.

He struck out 10 over five innings, reaching double digits in Ks for the second time in his career,. Boyd had 11 on Sept. 8 against St. Louis.

Buck Farmer, Blaine Hardy and Reed Garrett all came out of the bullpen for the Tigers, with Hardy giving up two more runs.

Brandon Drury led off the first inning for the Blue Jays with a triple to deep left field. Boyd bore down and struck out the next three batters to end the inning, stranding Drury.

Before the game Toronto’s rookie manager Charlie Montoyo had confirmed that Drury would be his leadoff hitter most of the time, but on occasion he’ll use Randal Grichuk.

Hernandez got Toronto on the board in the fourth inning, stroking a single to score Grichuk from second and advance Smoak to second. It ended a 13-inning scoreless drought to open the season, the longest in Blue Jays’ history.

Galvis added to that lead four batters later, smashing a basehit into centre field. Tigers outfielder Mikie Mahtook mishandled the ball, giving Galvis enough time to slide into third and clear the bases. Smoak, Hernandez, and Billy McKinney, who had reached base on a single in the previous at bat, all scored to give Toronto a 4-0 advantage.

Smoak added a pair of runs to that lead in the seventh inning, finding a gap between third and short for an RBI single.

Notes: Announced attendance at Rogers Centre was 18,054. …The Blue Jays sent an autographed bat to fan Genevieve Cormier, who had been hit by an errant bat in the first game of their exhibition series against the Milwaukee Brewers on Tuesday at Montreal’s Olympic Stadium.

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John Chidley-Hill, The Canadian Press