5 Takeaways From the Blue Jays' Brutal 11-Inning Loss to Detroit

A disastrous error extend the ballgame, Miguel Cabrera hit home run No. 500, and the Blue Jays dropped a roller coaster series finale 5-3.

Charlie Montoyo took a slow walk to the mound.

He'd changed pitchers five times already, but after this mound visit—where Montoyo mercifully took the ball from Kirby Snead, who had just allowed two runs in the top of the 11th—the game's energy dropped to its lowest point.

When Vladimir Guerrero Jr. was called out on strikes and the nightmare ended, you could hear your own heartbeat at Rogers Centre. Blue Jays fans were completely exhausted, and no one could blame them. 

Sunday's 5-3 extra innings loss was a massive gut-punch for both the Blue Jays and their fans, mostly because the team came inches away from victory, but also because they've now lost two of their last three in extra innings. It's been a cruel stretch of games for Toronto, and things just got a lot worse.

Here are five takeaways from a disastrous series finale at Rogers Centre: 

Blue Jays botch routine grounder to blow lead in ninth

The game was in the bag. 

With a runner on second, two outs, and Toronto leading by one run in the ninth, Tayler Saucedo induced a routine groundball to second base. 

Marcus Semien fielded it cleanly, with all the time in the world, but what happened next was a complete disaster. Semien undershot Guerrero Jr. at first, the ball short-hopped off his glove and dropped right behind him, allowing the tying run to score all the way from second. 

Ruled an error on Semien, the misplay altered the fate of the game. It was also an uncharacteristic miscue for Semien, who's been one of the game's most surehanded second baseman.

"That was the play," Montoyo said. "Marcus will tell you the same thing. He's been playing Gold Glove-caliber second base. He just made an error."

Miggy hits home run No. 500

Miguel Cabrera hit his 500th career home run—a solo shot off Blue Jays starter Steven Matz—to tie the game in the sixth inning, and the visiting crowd showed all kinds of love for the future Hall-of-Famer. 

The Tigers legend came out for a curtain call, removed his helmet and bowed to the Rogers Centre faithful, who honored him with a standing ovation. Cabrera was 0-for-9 in the first two games of the series, but leaves Toronto as one of only 28 players to join the 500-homer club.

Matz pitches well, doesn't miss many bats

Matz gave the Blue Jays every chance to win, but recorded just seven whiffs and struck out only one Tigers hitter.

"I threw a lot of fastball-changeup combination today," Matz said. "They were just putting them in play.

"I've got to go back and look at some videos. It'd be nice to put a few more guys away with the breaking ball, but I was ultimately able to get some soft contact, and the defense behind me was making really good plays all day."

Before Semien's error, Toronto put forth a strong defensive effort.

Smith plays a mean third base

Kevin Smith had never played an inning of defense in the majors, yet looked right at home manning the hot corner on Sunday. The 25-year-old rookie showed poise moving to his backhand, charging in on choppers, and made an outrageous diving stab and solid throw to first on a hard-hit grounder.

Smith is a versatile defender, capable of playing third, shortstop, first base and even outfield. If he can carry over his offensive success from Triple A, he'll have a spot on the field more often than not. 

Bichette improves, clutch hitting nowhere to be found

Hours before the Blue Jays' 3-0 win on Saturday, Bo Bichette took cuts during early batting practice. Blue Jays hitting coach Guillermo Martínez flipped front toss as Bichette stayed back and drove the ball deep the other way. 

Bichette has put in extra work lately, and he's justified in doing so—the 23-year-old is in the midst of his worst slump of the season. He hasn't homered in 13 games and was slugging just .273 in August, before Sunday.

Weighted On-Base Average by month, per Baseball Savant. Typically, .320 is average.

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The dog days of summer have been unkind to Bichette, but he stepped it up on Sunday. After a single in his second at-bat, the Blue Jays shortstop started a fifth-inning rally with a double to the right-center field gap. Despite being stung by a bee mid-game, Bichette finished 3-for-6.  

Beyond Bichette, Toronto's offense showed a serious lack of clutch hitting. Toronto had plenty of chances this series, but went just 1-for-31 with runners in scoring position during the weekend series.

Make no mistake, this was the Blue Jays' worst loss of the season.

"You have to keep fighting," Montoyo said. "We're not swinging the bats right now, but we're in every game still.

"Today was another tough loss. With two outs, we didn't make the last play, but they're gonna keep fighting, I'm telling you. I promise you that."