Blue Jays Fail Again in Detroit

For some reason, the Toronto Blue Jays always stumble when their stretch run comes through Detroit.

It happened in 1985 and ’87. It happened again Tuesday night as the Blue Jays wasted a two-run ninth-inning lead and lost to the Tigers, 4-3.

The fact that the Baltimore Orioles also lost enabled the Blue Jays to maintain their one-game lead in the American League East but didn’t make the defeat any more palatable.

“No loss is easy, but this is real tough,” said Kelly Gruber, who figured in all three Toronto runs. “I’ve said before, we’ve got to have pitching if we’re going to win this thing. Nobody is going to get them out 1-2-3 every time, but when you’ve got them like that, you’ve got to put them away.”

The division title will be decided in the season-ending, three-game series between the Blue Jays and Orioles in Toronto’s SkyDome this weekend. It will be the third time in five years that Toronto will have played a season-ending series for the East championship, and Tiger Stadium has played a role each time.

In 1985 the Blue Jays came to Detroit leading second-place New York by five games with six games remaining. But they were swept and didn’t clinch until Doyle Alexander, now a Tiger, beat the Yankees in the penultimate game of the season.

In the final series of 1987, the Blue Jays came to Detroit leading by a game, but the Tigers swept and finished first.

With one out in the ninth and Toronto leading, 3-1, Scott Lusader reached base on pitcher Duane Ward’s fielding error. Ward, who relieved in the eighth, walked Matt Nokes and hit Doug Strange with a pitch, loading the bases.

“The game should have been over,” said Ward, whose throw hit Lusader in the back. “Things just got away from me. . . . I lost that game.”

Tom Henke (4-10) relieved, and Gary Pettis singled up the middle for his third hit of the game, making the score 3-3. Two pitches later, Alan Trammell lined a hit to center, driving in the winning run.