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CWS@DET: Porcello pulls down Sox for seventh win

The Blue Jays earned some retribution Thursday following the worst shutout loss in franchise history, and they'll try to erase the memory for good in Friday's series opener against Detroit. Toronto dropped a 16-0 game on Wednesday and closed out its Oakland series with a 10-4 win Thursday.

Toronto will hand the ball to swingman Carlos Villanueva in the series opener, and he'll be matched against right-hander Rick Porcello for the Tigers. Villanueva is 5-0 this season, but he's made just four starts, and he's yet to allow more than three earned runs in any of those outings.

Porcello is 2-2 with a 3.75 ERA in four career starts against Toronto, and he's gone 4-2 with a 4.02 ERA in eight road starts this season. The 24-year-old has completed at least six innings in six of his last 10 starts, and he's gone seven straight outings without allowing a home run.

The Tigers won their first three series out of the All-Star break before dropping a 5-3 decision to the Indians in their rubber game on Thursday.

Toronto, meanwhile, is right at .500 and needs a sustained stretch of positive play to pull back into the race for the AL East or Wild Card.

The Blue Jays -- who are missing All-Star Jose Bautista -- got home runs from Edwin Encarnacion and Kelly Johnson in Thursday's victory, and six of their nine starters came around to score. Encarnacion's homer was his 27th, and he's proven to be comfortable in the cleanup slot.

Miguel Cabrera has been a dominant force in the middle of Detroit's lineup, and he's batting .351 (97-for-276) with 23 doubles and 17 home runs in his last 69 games. Cabrera leads the league with 60 RBIs in that stretch, and his average ranks second among all AL hitters.

Tigers: Villareal getting the job done
• The Tigers have gotten superlative relief work from Brayan Villarreal, who ranks fifth among AL relievers with a 1.41 ERA and sixth in strikeouts per nine innings. Villarreal, a 25-year-old Venezuelan, has allowed 33 baserunners via hit or walk, but has struck out 43 batters.

Blue Jays: Vizquel stepping in for Escobar
• Shortstop Yunel Escobar has missed two straight games due to a back injury, and veteran Omar Vizquel stepped into the starting lineup on Thursday. Vizquel, batting .205 for the season, is 141 hits shy of 3,000 for his career, and the 45-year-old hasn't had more than 100 hits in a season since 2007.

• Vizquel has 18 hits for the Blue Jays this season, and none of them have gone for extra bases. The switch-hitter is still controlling the strike zone -- walking five times and striking out seven -- but he hasn't hit a home run since 2010 and has just seven doubles in his last 251 at-bats.

Worth noting
• The Blue Jays added relievers Evan Crawford and Joel Carreno from Triple-A Las Vegas on Thursday.

• Jeff Mathis is expected to get most of the catching chores for Toronto in the wake of J.P. Arencibia's fractured right hand.

• The Tigers have two players -- Cabrera and Prince Fielder -- with at least 40 walks.

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