TORONTO -- The Toronto Blue Jays needed to be in top form with unbeaten starter Max Scherzer on the mound for Detroit on Wednesday night. Instead they turned in a sloppy effort and the Tigers made them pay. Scherzer won his 13th straight decision and Alex Avila hit a three-run homer as Detroit defeated Toronto 6-2 at Rogers Centre. The Blue Jays made three errors on the night, leading to five unearned runs. "We definitely didnt help ourselves there," said Toronto manager John Gibbons. "And like Ive said before, against the better pitchers if you fall behind like that its an uphill battle." Scherzer (13-0) allowed seven hits, two earned runs and had eight strikeouts over 6 1-3 innings. He became the first starting pitcher to open the season by winning 13 straight decisions since Roger Clemens, who went 14-0 to start the 1986 season with the Boston Red Sox. Torontos Josh Johnson (1-3) turned in another inconsistent outing and also struggled in the field, making two errors in the third inning alone. The games key miscue was an error by second baseman Emilio Bonifacio that led to four unearned runs in the second inning. That was more than enough offence for Scherzer, who was hit hard a few times but maintained his steadiness throughout. Victor Martinez chipped in with a solo homer drove in two runs for Detroit (45-38). Toronto (41-43) fell two games below the .500 mark with its second straight loss and will need a win Thursday to salvage a split of the four-game series. Johnson, who returned to the lineup June 9 after missing seven weeks with right triceps inflammation, lasted five innings and allowed seven hits, one earned run, two walks and had five strikeouts. He has pitched five innings or less in five of his 10 starts this year. "Thats the frustrating thing is Im feeling good and I just want to go out there and throw some innings for this team and Im not really doing my job," Johnson said. The veteran right-hander gave up an infield single to Prince Fielder in the second inning. Martinez then hit a tailor-made double-play ball that went through Bonifacios legs and rolled into right field. Jhonny Peralta followed with a single that scored Fielder with the games first run. Johnson recorded the next two outs before Avila turned on a 3-2 pitch for his sixth homer of the year. The Blue Jays threatened in the bottom half but couldnt push a run across. Mark DeRosa hit a two-out triple and J.P. Arencibia followed with a blast to centre field that Austin Jackson snagged with a highlight-reel catch at the top of the wall. In the third, Johnson fumbled a dribbler near the front of the mound. That allowed Torii Hunter to reach base and he scored on a Martinez single to make it 5-0. Johnson later mishandled a chopper for his second error. The Tigers loaded the bases but Jose Bautista prevented any further damage with a nice running catch on an Omar Infante drive to right-centre field. Infante had to leave the game in the fourth inning with a left leg injury after a hard slide by Colby Rasmus on a potential double-play ball. Gibbons declined comment on the play and the Toronto centre-fielder wasnt immediately available to discuss it after the game. "Were really mad about that slide, thats a very dirty play in my book," Scherzer said. "When you watch it on replay, his spikes are up, hes sliding late. Rajai Davis is running there, hes going to be safe at first, were most likely not going to turn two there. "Theres no reason to slide in like that. I feel like he should be suspended." Martinez padded Detroits lead in the fifth when he smacked a 1-2 pitch over the wall in right field for his seventh homer of the season. Todd Redmond, who was called up earlier in the day from triple-A Buffalo, relieved Johnson and gave up a leadoff single to Jackson. With tension already high after the Rasmus slide, Redmond then hit Hunter just below the shoulder. The veteran right-fielder had a few choice words for the Toronto hurler and the benches and bullpens emptied. No punches were thrown and Hunter eventually walked down to first base. Hunter said his outburst was nothing against Redmond, he was just emotional because his teammate had been injured a few minutes earlier. "You take away somebody like that whos very important to our ball club, Im upset," Hunter said. "You take out a guy dirty like that, Im upset. The lateness of his slide, the spikes were high. "It was all wrong." Redmond got out of the jam when Miguel Cabrera lined out into a double play and Fielder struck out. The Blue Jays got on the board in the bottom of the sixth inning. Jose Reyes led off with a single and moved to second on a Bautista single. After an Adam Lind strikeout, Rasmus drove Reyes in with a single to right field. Rajai Davis struck out and Maicer Izturis drove in Bautista with a single to left. Scherzer was pulled after giving up a one-out single to Bonifacio in the seventh inning. Bruce Rondon came on in relief and got Reyes to pop up and Bautista to hit into a forceout. Redmond, who is expected to get a start on Sunday, allowed only one hit over three shutout innings. Toronto reliever Dustin McGowan struck out the side in the ninth. Joaquin Benoit picked up the final three outs for the Tigers. Notes: X-rays on Infantes leg were negative. He suffered a shin contusion and will be re-evaluated Thursday. ... Blue Jays slugger Edwin Encarnacion was given a third straight day off to rest his sore left hamstring. He remains day to day. ... DeRosas triple was his first since Sept. 18, 2009 when he was with the St. Louis Cardinals. ... Toronto outhit Detroit 9-8. ... Rock legend Alice Cooper threw out the ceremonial first pitch. ... The game took three hours 11 minutes to play. ... Announced attendance was 28,958. ... Rondon hit 100 m.p.h. on the radar gun with his first pitch of the game. ... Torontos Esmil Rogers (3-3) is scheduled to start the series finale against Justin Verlander (8-5). ... The Blue Jays will close out their seven-game homestand with a weekend series against the Minnesota Twins. Mike Ford Jersey . Tensions rose in the first period when Penguins defenceman Brooks Orpik hit Bruins forward Loui Eriksson with what appeared to be a clean hit. Adonis Rosa Yankees Jersey . Former San Francisco Giants slugger Barry Bonds made his longshot request of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco. A three-judge panel of the 9th Circuit upheld Bonds conviction in September. https://www.cheapyankees.com/2201g-ron-g...ey-yankees.html. "Well over 50 (per cent)," coach Claude Noel said Tuesday after practice, where the Jets were looking at ways to cut down the scoring chances theyve been giving away. Lou Gehrig Jersey . -- The Oakland Athletics and free agent right-hander Bartolo Colon have agreed to terms on a US$2 million, one-year contract, bolstering their depleted starting rotation. Randy Johnson Jersey . These teams will see plenty of each other in the next few weeks as three of the Canucks next nine games are against the Wild (after today they meet February 9th in Minnesota and again February 16th at Rogers Arena).The National Hockey Leagues years-long investigation into concussions was a whitewash, and the leagues claims that players should have researched themselves the consequences of brain injuries is absurd, according to claims made by a group of former players in newly filed court documents. Three weeks ago, the NHL claimed in pleadings that the former players who are suing the league over how it handled concussions and head trauma injuries ought to have been able to put two and two together, thanks to newspaper and magazine stories and other news reports. Publicly available information related to concussions and their long-term effects, coupled with the events that had transpired – i.e., the players incurring head injuries – should have allowed (players) to put two and two together, the NHL said in its court documents filed in Minnesota. Now, the players are firing back. In newly filed documents obtained by TSN, lawyers for players including Joe Murphy, Bernie Nichols and Gary Leeman rubbish the NHLs claims, saying players had no knowledge of the medical literature, and no understanding of any need to go find it because they relied on the NHL for information about player health and safety. Whether players could have accessed information in the public sphere is a red herring, the players say in court filings. By representing that the NHL was the caretaker of player safety and was responsible for researching concussions... the NHL was telling players not to look for or believe what the NHL now says the players should have researched and understood. The players, whose claims have not been proven, allege that the NHL did not do enough to protect them from head injuries before it created a committee to study head trauma in 1997. Even after that, the players charge the committees findings were not adequately shared with players. For decades, NHL players who sustained in-game concussions or who lost consciousness were simply propped up, given smelling salts, and quickly returned to game-action, the players allege. While the NHL began its concussion study in 19997 and published its findings in 2011, It was not until July 23, 2013, that the NHL changed its concussion protocols to require a concussed player not return to the same game in which the concussion occurred.dddddddddddd The NHL players filed the suit in November 2013 after a group of nearly 4,500 former NFL players reached a settlement with the NFL over similar concussion-related complaints. The NFL players are expected to be paid about $1 billion, a lawyer working on the case told TSN. In its legal filings, the NHL says the court should dismiss the case because its taken too long for players to file their complaints. (The players) are not seeking recovery for acute injuries resulting from the individual hits, blows or instances of trauma inherent in hockey, the players pleadings say, adding that the injuries being sued for are the permanent degenerative brain diseases, or accumulated brain cell damage increasing the risk of such diseases, which arose and of which the plaintiffs became aware only after plaintiffs retired from the NHL. The NHL also has said the claim should be dismissed because health and safety issues fall under the purview of the leagues collective labour agreement with the NHLPA. The NHL said under terms of its CBA, that players have a responsibility to report injuries to their teams and submit themselves for examination. The CBA also addresses the rights of a player to receive his medical records, the NHL said in its legal filings. Players are clearly excluded from the NHLPA bargaining unit, the new court documents say, belying any argument that they are represented by a union who can initiate a grievance on their behalf... plaintiffs, as retired players and unrepresented by the NHLPA, could not initiate a grievance on their own behalf even if they wanted to. The judge overseeing the players lawsuit will hear oral arguments about the NHLs motion on Jan. 8 and will decide whether to dismiss the case by April. About 40 former NHL players have now signed up as named plaintiffs, compared to 4,500 in the NFL case. ' ' '