Tigers Tailspin Continues

The Tigers dropped their fifth straight game, as the Toronto Blue Jays completed a three-game sweep with a 7-3 victory Thursday inDetroit. The AL East-leading Blue Jays have won 19 of 23, including sweeps of defending championBoston,ALWest-leadingOaklandand AL Central-leadingDetroit.  The Tigers    are still in first place, but have lost 13 of their last 17.   Juan Francisco and Brett Lawrie hit consecutive home runs in the sixth inning off Justin Verlander, and Melky Cabrera also homered for the Blue Jays.    It was the 10th homer of the season for both Francisco and Lawrie.Torontohas hit a major league-leading 87.  The Blue Jays won despite the absence of slugger Edwin Encarnacion, who missed the game with a back issue.

Justin Verlander (6-5) allowed six runs - five earned - and eight hits in seven innings. He walked four and struck out four.Torontoscored three runs each in the fourth and sixth.   "My fastball was great today, but I just missed some off-speed pitches," Verlander said. "If I execute those four or five pitches, this would have been a fantastic game. I feel like I'm turning the corner with the mechanical adjustments I've made. I know the results don't reflect that, but I felt great out there."

J.A. Happ (5-2) allowed three runs and seven hits in 6 1-3 innings forToronto. Casey Janssen got the final out for his 10th save in 11 chances.