DETROIT (AP) — Matt Vierling homered twice, including a tiebreaking, three-run drive off Jordan Romano in the ninth inning that gave Detroit a wild 14-11 win against the Toronto Blue Jays on Sunday after the Tigers blew a five-run lead and rebounded from a two-run deficit.
Vierling had four hits and tied career highs with two homers and four RBIs.
“My brother and I in the back yard, we’d always be doing situations like that,” Vierling added. “It’s kind of cool when it actually happens.”
Carson Kelly blasted a three-run homer and Spencer Torkelson added a single shot for Detroit, which led 5-0 after three innings, 8-3 after five and 9-5 after six. The Tigers set a season record for runs and matching their high with 17 hits.
Torkelson had three hits and scored three runs.
“He’s really easy to root for,” Torkelson said of Vierling. “To see him come through, we had all the faith in the world and confidence he’d get the job done there. That’s exactly what he did.”
Toronto’s Isiah Kiner-Falefa homered in the seventh off Tyler Holton, and the Blue Jays seized an 11-9 lead with a five-run eighth when Bo Bichette hit a two-run single off Jason Foley and Daulton Varsho blasted a three-run homer.
Toronto manager John Schneider got some consolation by the manner his team kept coming back.
“It’s easy to kind of quit after that and the guys did the exact opposite,” he said. “Chipped away and rallied back with tremendous hits from Bo and Varsh.”
Mark Canha levelled the game with a two-run single against Yimi García in the bottom half, his third hit.
Vierling, who hit a single homer in the sixth off Zach Pop, blasted a full-count slider from Romano (1-2) over the left-field wall for his first big league walk-off hit. A two-time All-Star, Romano has allowed three homers this year, half his total last season.
“I was ready for that pitch that he threw me 3-2,” Vierling added. “I was kind of looking for it 2-2, as well, but it was low and I was able to check my swing enough. The next pitch was the same pitch, just a little higher up.”
Mason Englert (1-0) threw a hitless ninth for the Tigers (26-27), who won the last three games of a four-game series against the last-place Blue Jays (23-29).
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. got his second four-hit game of the season for the Blue Jays.
Detroit starter Casey Mize gave up three runs and eight hits in 4 1/3 innings. Toronto’s Yusei Kikuchi allowed five runs and eight hits in three innings. Mize and Kikuchi are 0-3 each in their six starts.
