Jays take care of Tigers. José Berríos brought the heat in July

Three things you need to know about the Blue Jays’ 4-1 win over the Detroit Tigers at the Rogers Centre on Sunday:

The best of Berríos

Jays right-hander José Berríos wrapped up a terrific month of July by simply carving up the Tigers over seven dominant innings. He allowed a run (see below) on three hits, walked only one (see below) and struck out six, needing just 80 pitches in the bargain.

Berríos carried a 5.86 ERA into the month, but he’s dropped it almost a full run to 4.96. He posted an ERA of an even 3.00 in July, and the Jays won all six of his starts. In fact, Sunday marked the 13th straight Berríos start the Jays have won at home, breaking Roy Halladay’s club record.

Brother act

In the top of the first inning, Berríos squared off with his brother-in-law, Tigers shortstop Javier Báez, and it was spectacular.

Over the course of the seven-pitch at-bat, Báez absolutely hammered three balls, all just barely foul. One into the corner in left field, one into the 500 level down the left-field line and another that almost made it to the 200 level. After thrice missing a home run, Báez took a changeup down and in, jumped and pumped his fist for joy and headed down to first base, but it was only ball three. He sheepishly returned to home plate and took the next pitch: a curveball that just missed, ball four for real.

Next time up, Báez cashed in for all his hard work, taking Berríos deep the other way into the Detroit bullpen. Fair this time.

Matt at bat

Matt Chapman provided the winning margin for the Jays — who took three of four from the Tigers — with a two-run homer in the second inning, his 20th of the season and fourth in the last three games. The third baseman is on fire, having reached base safely in 10 straight games while hitting .485 with five home runs and 12 RBIs over that stretch.

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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