DETROIT — Alex Faedo, out since June 3 with a finger injury, returned to the Tigers’ rotation Friday night.
It didn’t go well.
The hard-hitting Toronto Blue Jays tagged him for six runs in the fourth inning and rode that to a 12-2 romp in front of a heavily Blue Jays-flavored crowd of 30,029 at Comerica Park.
It was curious that manager AJ Hinch stuck with Faedo so long, especially since he said before the game that his workload would be restricted in his first start back. Faedo made only one rehab start at Triple-A Toledo, throwing 57 pitches in 3 1/3 innings.
But he was sharp and efficient the first time through the Blue Jays’ order and the fourth-inning blowup was sudden.
Faedo retired the first eight hitters in 32 pitches, but things started to unravel soon after that. Kevin Kiermaier broke the seal with a two-out single in the third inning and scored on a double by George Springer.
The strike zone got a little fuzzy on Faedo and that led to his problems in the fourth. A pair of walks and a single by Vladimir Guerrero, Jr., loaded the bases. Whit Merrifield singled in a run, Danny Jansen doubled in two, another scored on a Kiermaier ground out and Springer capped it with a two-run homer.
It happened that fast.
Reliever Mason Englert didn’t start warming up until after the Merrifield single. Faedo, who ended up throwing 72 pitches, faced four more batters before Hinch pulled him.
The Blue Jays welcomed All-Star starter Alek Manoah back into their rotation. Manoah, who finished second in the Cy Young voting last season, was shockingly sent back to the Blue Jays’ complex league team in April after a befuddlingly poor start.
“This time last year he was mic’d up (at the All-Star Game) talking to John Smoltz and walking him through his sequencing on the mound,” Hinch said before the game. “We can’t forget that just because he’s had a rough year and been to the minors.
“To have that reset doesn’t mean he isn’t a very talented pitcher.”
The Tigers ended up providing a relatively soft landing for Manoah’s return. They nicked him for a run in the third on singles by Andy Ibanez, Jake Rogers and Spencer Torkelson (RBI), but that was it.
Manoah struck out eight, including all three outs in the sixth. He got seven swinging strikes with his 92-93 mph four-seam fastball and 11 called strikes with his slider and sinker.
This was also Tigers’ outfielder Akil Baddoo’s return. Out with a quad strain since June 9, he went 0 for 4. He struck out twice against Manoah and then flew out to center field in his final two at-bats.
Center fielder Matt Vierling had three hits for the Tigers. His third hit was a bullet single to center field in the eighth inning that scored Zach McKinstry from first base. McKinstry was running on the 3-2 pitch.
The Blue Jays blew the lid off this game with a five-run ninth against Jose Cisnero. He hadn't pitched in five days and he'd only allowed one earned run in his last 12 2/3 innings. But he didn't get an out. He walked two, threw a run-scoring wild pitch and gave up a three-run home run to Merrifield.
The homer came one pitch after Torkelson and Ibanez got tangled up chasing a foul ball.
Infielder Zack Short was called in to pitch and got the three outs to mercifully end the inning.
