TORONTO — Home runs continue to be a problem for Toronto Blue Jays left-hander Brett Cecil.
This time it was a three-run shot by Jhonny Peralta in the second inning Sunday as the Detroit Tigers defeated the Blue Jays 4-1 to avoid a three-game sweep.
Peralta also hit a solo homer against reliever Joel Carreno in the ninth to back Doug Fister’s eight strong innings.
Cecil (2-4) has allowed nine home runs in his eight starts since returning from the minors.
Peralta sabotaged a decent outing in which he allowed four hits, three walks and three runs while striking out seven in 6 2-3 innings.
“I’m not going to change anything,” Cecil said. “I don’t care how they get the runs. It doesn’t matter as long as I keep my team in it.”
The victory snapped Detroit’s three-game losing slide, with the last two coming in Toronto, and ended the Blue Jays’ three-game winning streak.
“I thought Brett did his job keeping us in the game, particularly after the three-run homer in the second, he settled down,” Toronto manager John Farrell said. “I think overall in the series we pitched very well.”
The Blue Jays finished the six-game homestand at 3-3.
They now travel to Seattle, Oakland and Tampa Bay for 10 games that might go a long way to deciding whether they will remain a contender for a wild card spot in the American League.
Fister (5-7) held the Blue Jays to seven hits, two walks and one run to win for the fourth time in five starts. He also struck out nine, one short of his season high.
“He kept them off balance with his slow stuff and his cutter,” Detroit manager Jim Leyland said. “He really pitched an effective game. He’s pretty good at staying calm when he gets in a tight situation. That’s a trait of a real good pitcher.”
Added Farrell: “Fister was outstanding today, a very good curveball both to righties and lefties, he made some key pitches.”
Jose Valverde pitched the ninth to pick up his 20th save of the season for Detroit.
The Blue Jays (51-50) scored a run in the first inning after leadoff hitter Rajai Davis walked. He swiped second, his 28th stolen base of the season, continued to third on catcher Gerald Laird’s throwing error and scored on a groundout by Colby Rasmus.
The Tigers (54-48) struck back in the second thanks to Peralta’s three-run homer. Delmon Young led off with a walk and took third on a double by Ryan Raburn. That set up Peralta’s seventh home run of the season, a drive to left on a 3-2 curveball.
“I was looking for the breaking ball because the first game we played here (Friday) I got to 3-2 a couple of times and they threw me a lot of breaking balls,” Peralta said. “Today I was thinking ’OK, if it’s 3-2 and they throw a breaking ball to me, something will happen today.”