Blue Jays beat Tigers thanks to Matt Chapman’s bat and Yusei Kikuchi’s arm

Three things you need to know about the Blue Jays’ 5-3 win over the Tigers at Rogers Centre on Thursday:

Happy Chappy

Matt Chapman continues to tear the cover off the ball, blasting a pair of home runs to left field for his first multihomer game as a Blue Jay.

The third baseman is tied for second on the team with George Springer with 18 home runs, three behind Vladimir Guerrero Jr. for the club lead.

Chapman got off to a rough start after being traded from Oakland in spring training, hitting just .201 through the end of May, but since the calendar flipped to June he has hit .290 with 12 home runs and an on-base-plus-slugging percentage of .937.

Yu-don’t-sei

The last we saw Yusei Kikuchi, he was giving up four runs in Oakland while walking five and recording only seven outs. That was back on July 5, the fifth start in six in which he had failed to go more than four innings, a stretch over which he posted an ugly ERA of 6.87.

It seemed rather convenient that he was shut down with a neck strain the next day, but the time off sure seemed to help the left-hander as he threw five strong innings against the Tigers on Thursday, allowing just a run on two hits with only one walk. He retired the final eight batters he faced and picked up his fourth win of the season.

That pesky elbow

Springer has been battling a sore right elbow for well over a month, missing three straight games in late June, and the problem appeared to flare up when he swung at a first-pitch sinker and hit a fly ball to centre to end the eighth inning. The 32-year-old immediately grabbed at the elbow after the swing and did not come out for defence in the top of the ninth.

Manager John Schneider said Springer was OK after a night that included a diving catch and a couple of big throws to keep runners from advancing. The Jays will look at that throwing arm again Friday.

Mike Wilner is a Toronto-based baseball columnist for the Star and host of the baseball podcast “Deep Left Field.” Follow him on Twitter: @wilnerness

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