Beau Brieske stymies Blue Jays' offense as Detroit Tigers top Toronto, 3-1

For the first time in his MLB career, Detroit Tigers right-hander Beau Brieske walked off the mound with a zero on the scoreboard.

The 24-year-old completed 5⅔ scoreless innings, allowing seven hits without a walk, to guide the Tigers to a 3-1 win in the second of three games against the Toronto Blue Jays in front of 30,738 fans at Comerica Park.

Brieske worked around two singles in the second inning, two singles in the third, one single in the fourth, one single in the fifth and one single in the sixth. He only had two strikeouts but limited hard contact.

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The Tigers (24-34) scored a run in the first, fourth and seventh innings, with Javier Báez — who signed a six-year, $140 million contract in December — guiding the offense with a single and three walks.

Báez is hitting .200 in 47 games this season.

He has nine walks in 191 plate appearances.

Victor Reyes, in his first game back from the injured list, finished 3-for-4 (three singles) with one strikeout. Eric Haase picked up a pair of extra-base hits, while Báez, Harold Castro and Willi Castro chipped in one hit apiece.

The Tigers' offense posted eight hits and three walks with five strikeouts.

The second extra-base hit from Haase — batting out of the nine-hole — extended the Tigers' lead to 3-0 in the seventh inning off righty reliever David Phelps. Reyes followed Haase's double with a single into right field to score him.

To secure the victory, the Tigers' bullpen backed Brieske and the offense with 3⅓ innings, allowing only a run in the ninth inning.

For Brieske's final out, left fielder Willi Castro — a former infielder — completed his fourth outfield assist in 2022. Teoscar Hernandez reached safely to open the sixth inning on Báez's throwing error, and Lourdes Gurriel Jr. singled to left with one out.

As Hernandez attempted to reach third base, Castro fired a strike to third baseman Harold Castro, who made a clean tag for the second out. That's when manager A.J. Hinch called on left-handed reliever Andrew Chafin to face pinch-hitter Alejandro Kirk.

Kirk flied out to right field.

The rest of the relievers rolled past the Blue Jays. Righties Jason Foley and Michael Fulmer tossed scoreless seventh and eighth innings, with Fulmer sending down the heart of Toronto's lineup: Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (strikeout, slider), Hernandez (strikeout, slider) and Santiago Espinal (groundout).

Left-handed closer Gregory Soto notched his 13th save, though he allowed a run on two hits and a walk, all with two outs.

For his 86 pitches (59 strikes), Brieske threw 47 four-seam fastballs (55%), 22 sliders (26%), 11 changeups (13%), two four-seam fastballs (5%) and two curveballs (2%).

He generated eight swings and misses: three four-seamers, four sliders and one changeup.

Brieske has a 4.34 ERA in nine starts.

Scoring first

The Tigers' first-inning run and subsequent victory improved their record to 17-6 when scoring before their opponent.

Reyes opened with a two-strike leadoff single. He advanced to second base on a error by shortstop Bo Bichette, who dropped the ball on a perfect throw from catcher Gabriel Moreno trying to get Reyes stealing.

The action from Reyes was followed by Austin Meadows' one-out walk, putting two runners on base with for Miguel Cabrera. Although Cabrera struck out looking, fellow Venezuelan Harold Castro drilled a first-pitch fastball into center field.

Reyes, also Venezuelan, scored from second base, giving the Tigers a 1-0 advantage.

The Tigers had a chance to score more runs in the first, as Báez drew a surprising five-pitch walk to load the bases. But Willi Castro stranded his teammates when he lined out to right field.

Scoring again

Blue Jays right-hander Kevin Gausman allowed two runs on six hits and three walks with four strikeouts across six innings.

He now has a 2.80 ERA in 12 starts.

Gausman avoided trouble for the most part, but when the Tigers had scoring opportunities, they capitalized with timely hits. Harold Castro's first-inning single was one example.

Another was Haase's two-out triple in the fourth inning, set up by a leadoff six-pitch walk to Báez. It marked Báez's 11th multi-walk game of his career and the first time he has ever drawn three unintentional walks.

The next two batters were retired, so Haase had the task of rewarding the Tigers after such a rare feat from Báez. He did just that, smacking a two-strike fastball into the right-field corner for a triple.

It marked Haase's first extra-base hit since May 14 and his fourth in 32 games this season.

More importantly, it put the Tigers ahead 2-0.

The Tigers, despite putting two runners in scoring position, failed to score off Gausman in his final inning of work. In the sixth, Báez and Willi Castro produced back-to-back one-out hits.

Báez singled; Castro doubled.

Then, Spencer Torkelson lined into a double play. Second baseman Cavan Biggio caught the ball and immediately fired to Espinal, the third baseman. When Biggio caught the bullet, Báez was already headed toward home plate and couldn't get back in time.

Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him on Twitter @EvanPetzold. Read more on the Detroit Tigers and sign up for our Tigers newsletter.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Tigers top Toronto, 3-1, as Beau Brieske stymies Blue Jays