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TORONTO (AP) -- Mike Maroth became the first major league pitcher in 23 years to lose 20 games in a season as the Detroit Tigers lost to the Toronto Blue Jays 8-6 on Friday night.
Maroth (6-20) allowed eight runs and nine hits in three-plus innings, becoming the first 20-game loser since Oakland's Brian Kingman went 8-20 in 1980.
Kingman, who wanted to remain baseball's last 20-game loser, attended the game and brought a voodoo doll with him. It's the same doll he took to four other starts in which a major league pitcher could have lost his 20th game but didn't.
"I just don't want Mike to lose," Kingman said before the game.
Maroth wasted 2-0 and 5-2 leads as Kingman kept his doll -- nicknamed "The King" -- by his feet. Asked if he would destroy the doll if Maroth lost, Kingman said: "He'll be 4-1. That's a whole lot better than I was, so I'm going to keep him."
Kingman watched Omar Daal and Albie Lopez avoid becoming 20-game losers. The 49-year-old Phoenix native chatted and joked with reporters throughout the game.
Detroit (37-103) needs at least six wins in its final 22 games to avoid matching the post-1900 record of 120 losses in a season, set by the 1962 New York Mets.
Toronto ended the Tigers' fourth three-game winning streak of the season despite a poor start by Mark Hendrickson, who allowed five runs and seven hits in three innings.
Tanyon Sturtze (7-6), who went 4-18 for Tampa Bay last season, pitched three innings for the win. Aquilino Lopez pitched the ninth for his ninth save.
Craig Monroe's two-run homer gave Detroit a 2-0 lead in the first, but Toronto's Eric Hinske tied it with a two-run shot in the second. Monroe's RBI single and Carlos Pena's two-run single made it 5-2 in the third.
Toronto's Josh Phelps cut it 5-4 with a two-run homer off Maroth.
The Blue Jays scored four runs in the fourth as Maroth failed to get an out. Dave Berg led off with a single, Kevin Cash hit a double and Reed Johnson followed with a two-run single. Mike Bordick chased Maroth with an RBI double that gave Toronto a 7-5 lead, and Carlos Delgado hit an RBI grounder off Matthew Roney.
Brandon Inge's run-scoring single cut it to 8-6 in the sixth.
Game notes
The Tigers' Jeremy Bonderman, who is 6-18, was removed from the starting rotation Wednesday by manager Alan Trammell. ... Blue Jays manager Carlos Tosca served a one-game suspension, assessed for spraying spit on umpire Tim Timmons during an argument in Boston last week. First base John Gibbons managed the team. ... Detroit's Bobby Higginson didn't start because of a sore left hamstring but pinch hit in the ninth. Trammel didn't want him playing on SkyDome's artificial turf.
ESPN.com.
Maroth (6-20) allowed eight runs and nine hits in three-plus innings, becoming the first 20-game loser since Oakland's Brian Kingman went 8-20 in 1980.
Kingman, who wanted to remain baseball's last 20-game loser, attended the game and brought a voodoo doll with him. It's the same doll he took to four other starts in which a major league pitcher could have lost his 20th game but didn't.
"I just don't want Mike to lose," Kingman said before the game.
Maroth wasted 2-0 and 5-2 leads as Kingman kept his doll -- nicknamed "The King" -- by his feet. Asked if he would destroy the doll if Maroth lost, Kingman said: "He'll be 4-1. That's a whole lot better than I was, so I'm going to keep him."
Kingman watched Omar Daal and Albie Lopez avoid becoming 20-game losers. The 49-year-old Phoenix native chatted and joked with reporters throughout the game.
Detroit (37-103) needs at least six wins in its final 22 games to avoid matching the post-1900 record of 120 losses in a season, set by the 1962 New York Mets.
Toronto ended the Tigers' fourth three-game winning streak of the season despite a poor start by Mark Hendrickson, who allowed five runs and seven hits in three innings.
Tanyon Sturtze (7-6), who went 4-18 for Tampa Bay last season, pitched three innings for the win. Aquilino Lopez pitched the ninth for his ninth save.
Craig Monroe's two-run homer gave Detroit a 2-0 lead in the first, but Toronto's Eric Hinske tied it with a two-run shot in the second. Monroe's RBI single and Carlos Pena's two-run single made it 5-2 in the third.
Toronto's Josh Phelps cut it 5-4 with a two-run homer off Maroth.
The Blue Jays scored four runs in the fourth as Maroth failed to get an out. Dave Berg led off with a single, Kevin Cash hit a double and Reed Johnson followed with a two-run single. Mike Bordick chased Maroth with an RBI double that gave Toronto a 7-5 lead, and Carlos Delgado hit an RBI grounder off Matthew Roney.
Brandon Inge's run-scoring single cut it to 8-6 in the sixth.
Game notes
The Tigers' Jeremy Bonderman, who is 6-18, was removed from the starting rotation Wednesday by manager Alan Trammell. ... Blue Jays manager Carlos Tosca served a one-game suspension, assessed for spraying spit on umpire Tim Timmons during an argument in Boston last week. First base John Gibbons managed the team. ... Detroit's Bobby Higginson didn't start because of a sore left hamstring but pinch hit in the ninth. Trammel didn't want him playing on SkyDome's artificial turf.
ESPN.com.