(Photo credit: Kevin Sousa-Imagn Images)

The defending American League champion Toronto Blue Jays are off to a rough start. They hope their latest swing of the bat is the beginning of better times as they head into Detroit for a three-game series against the Tigers that starts on Friday.

Toronto had lost seven of its previous nine games before Daulton Varsho's walk-off grand slam in the 10th inning against the Tampa Bay Rays on Wednesday gave the Blue Jays a much-needed 5-3 victory.

'It's no secret that all of us were grinding a little bit to start the season,' Varsho said. 'We've been having good at-bats but kind of having some (bad) luck at times and lining out to people. You've got to trust the process. It's a long season. Hopefully, we can get some guys back to help our lineup a little bit. We'll go out there and give it our all every night.'

The Blue Jays had dropped the first two games of the series to AL East-leading Rays. Toronto then had a day off on Thursday.

'It's a big win,' manager John Schneider said. 'It was a tough series, and it's easy to think things weren't going our way when they were playing well and pitching well. We just needed a big hit, and we got it.'

The Blue Jays are still five games under .500, but they will have one of their most feared arms on the mound in the series opener against the Tigers.

Trey Yesavage (1-1, 0.68 ERA) is still on a pitch limit after recovering from a right shoulder impingement. He has made three starts since his return but hasn't gone deeper than 5 1/3 innings.

In his latest outing, Yesevage held the Los Angeles Angels scoreless for four innings on Saturday but required 87 pitches. He allowed four hits and walked two while striking out six.

The Tigers will be facing him for the first time. The 22-year-old will be opposed by another inexperienced right-hander, Ty Madden (0-0, 2.45 ERA), who will be making his ninth career appearance and second start.

Madden has logged two long relief appearances this month since being recalled from Triple-A Toledo. He held the Boston Red Sox scoreless for five innings on May 4, then gave up three runs on two hits in a six-inning outing against the Kansas City Royals on Saturday.

Madden gave up a three-run homer to Michael Massey in the fourth inning of Detroit's 5-1 loss, but he set down the last 11 hitters he faced.

'We needed the innings and we wanted the quality because we wanted to win the game,' Tigers manager A.J. Hinch said. 'I loved how he came back after the homer. It's easy to concede there and shy away from contact. He wasn't commanding the ball perfectly, but he was staying competitive and he was ending at-bats in his favor. That's the grit you need to get through that outing.'

Madden will face the Blue Jays for the first time.

Detroit, which nearly faced Toronto in the AL Championship Series last season, is struggling even more than the Blue Jays. The Tigers have lost eight of their past nine games after getting swept in a three-game series by the New York Mets this week. In the finale on Thursday, the Mets slugged five homers and prevailed 9-4.

One bright spot for Detroit has been the offensive output of Riley Greene, who will carry an eight-game hitting streak into the weekend series. During the streak, Greene is 16-for-33 (.485).

--Field Level Media