Wild ending sinks Jays, keeps Rally Goose alive
DETROIT— John Hicks and the power of the Rally Goose carried the Tigers past the Blue Jays on Saturday.
With the game tied 4-4 in the bottom of the eighth inning and the bases loaded with one out, Hicks — who had already struck out three times — fouled off five straight fastballs from Jays reliever Seunghwan Oh before looping a tworun single over second baseman Devon Travis. The Tigers went on to win 7-4.
The comeback came moments after the Tigers debuted a Rally Goose video at Comerica Park. Fans — the game drew 34,674, many from north of the border — broke into a chant of “Goose! Goose!” after Hicks’ single and again at the end of the game. Detroit is 4-0 since a Canada Goose crashed into a third-deck scoreboard at Comerica while trying to escape the stadium. The goose was treated and released into the wild Friday.
“I thought the fans were chanting for Hicksie, but didn’t sound right,” Tigers manager Ron Gardenhire said. “They are really getting excited by this goose thing, and that’s great.”
The Jays, who led 2-1 and 4-2, lost their fifth straight. Manager John Gibbons did not talk to the media after the game.
“We’re in a tough stretch, but we have to keep doing the little things it takes to win games,” said Jays starter J.A. Happ, who gave up four runs in five innings while striking out eight.
Yangervis Solarte and Luke Maile hit solo homers for the Jays, who lost Teoscar Hernandez in the third with a left foot injury, the result of a foul tip.