TORONTO — There was a sense of relief in the Detroit Tigers’ clubhouse after their 9-1 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays on Sunday afternoon.

The victory Trent Brown Jersey , propelled by a grand slam from Nicholas Castellanos, a career-best four hits by Niko Goodrum and seven strong innings by starting pitcher Jordan Zimmermann, ended an 11-game losing streak.

It was the Tigers’ longest losing streak since Aug. 13-23, 2003. They have not lost 12 in a row since 1996.

“It’s good to hear the music playing out there and guys smiling,” Tigers manager Ron Gardenhire said.

The Tigers have a chance to escape the Rogers Centre with a split in the four-game series by winning the finale on Monday afternoon.

The Tigers will start right-hander Mike Fiers (5-4, 4.04 ERA) against Blue Jays left-hander Ryan Borucki (0-1, 3.00).

The Tigers had a team meeting before the game.

“It was just a casual talk,” Gardenhire said. “It wasn’t this rah-rah (speech). … I just let them talk and I just said to them, ‘Tell me what we need to do.’ Some guys spoke up and that’s all I wanted to hear. We’re playing hard. We’ve lost 11 in a row up to this point. These guys have been playing, man. They’ve been in every game. We’ve had a chance to win a bunch of these games.”

The Tigers (37-48) were able to put together a five-run fifth inning with a rally that started with two outs against Toronto starter J.A. Happ, who was 6-0 in his previous eight starts. They added two runs in the sixth, also with a rally that began with two out.

The losing streak was the longest by two games in the majors this season and the longest since the Los Angeles Dodgers lost 11 in a row last September.

“We’ve had our chances over the last 10 or 11 games,” Zimmermann said. “It’s just a matter of if we’re going to cash in when we’ve got guys in scoring position. We were able to do that today.”

The Blue Jays (39-44) are expected to trade Happ before the July 31 deadline. When he departed in the sixth inning Justin Coleman Jersey , the Canada Day crowd gave him an ovation.

“I did notice, and I certainly appreciate that,” Happ said. “Maybe it was appreciation for how the season has gone so far or whatever you might take from it, that’s kind of what I took from it. That’s a nice feeling, certainly nicer than potentially getting booed, not that I would expect that at all, either.”

The Tigers face a pitcher who made his major-league debut Tuesday against the Astros in Houston in Borucki. He took the loss after allowing two runs, six hits and four walks in six innings.

Fiers pitched seven strong innings Wednesday against the Oakland Athletics, but took the loss despite allowing only one run on five hits and one walk while striking out five.

Fiers has faced the Blue Jays six times in his career, five as a starter, and is 1-3 with a 4.11 ERA. He made two starts against Toronto last season and was 0-1 with a 5.25 ERA. In two career starts at the Rogers Centre, Fiers is 0-2 with a 5.91 ERA.

The only disappointing news for the Tigers Sunday came from a hamstring injury to center fielder Leonys Martin, who hobbled off the field after a beating out an RBI bunt single in the fifth inning. It was at first announced as a cramp Vinny Curry Jersey , but Gardenhire said the injury was severe enough to put him on the disabled list. Another player will be brought in for the game Monday.

The day was not a complete loss for the Blue Jays. In the ninth inning, center fielder Kevin Pillar made a spectacular leaping catch to rob Castellanos of what would have been his second homer of the day.

Gardenhire said even Castellanos appreciated Pillar’s catch, although it cost him a homer.

“That was amazing,” Gardenhire said. “That’s a long run, to climb the wall like that and make that play, the timing, the whole package that just tells you how special an athlete he is.”

The teams are 3-3 in the season series.

Panthers coach Ron Rivera fired longtime offensive coordinator Mike Shula on Tuesday, saying the team’s offense needs a ”different perspective.”

Along with Shula, the Panthers also cut ties with quarterbacks coach Ken Dorsey two days after a playoff loss to the New Orleans Saints.

”I believe we need some different ideas going forward,” Rivera said at a news conference.

Shula spent seven seasons with Carolina, working as the quarterbacks coach before being promoted to offensive coordinator in 2013.

Carolina was 11-5 this season and finished 19th in total offense, but again struggled moving the ball through the air and was 28th in passing. The Panthers were 12th in scoring.

Rivera said the Panthers already have ”a few” candidates in mind, and strongly hinted it will be someone with NFL experience Nat Moore Jersey , not a college coach, from outside the organization.

Among some of the potential candidates that make sense are Norv Turner, whose son Ron was hired as an offensive consultant by the Panthers last June, and Rob Chudzinski, who worked as the team’s offensive coordinator in 2011 and 2012 before taking over as the head coach of the Cleveland Browns.

Rivera was a defensive coach under Turner with the then-San Diego Chargers from 2007-10.

”It signals an opportunity that we are looking to get better and continue to grow,” Rivera said.

”That is what the move was made for. Something different, something additional can give us the boost that I’m looking for that can help us get to the ultimate goal, and that is winning the Super Bowl.”

The news comes one day after Rivera seemed to give his entire coaching staff an endorsement.

However, the two-time AP Coach of the Year said he woke up at 3 in the morning and began looking at his notes.

He started to have second thoughts and decided to meet with interim general manager Marty Hurney about the decision.

Then he made the change.

Rivera was vague on exactly what bothered him about the offense this past season and prompted the change in thinking, but when asked about the team’s lack of an identity he said, ”you want to be able to understand this is who we are and this is what we do.”

Rivera said he still expects the Panthers will use the read option with quarterback Cam Newton, who was the team’s leading rusher last season with 754 yards. He also wants to see the ball in Christian McCaffrey’s hands in open space.

Carolina has been one of the league’s top running teams – in large part because of Newton’s ability to run the ball – over the past four seasons, averaging the league’s fourth-highest total at 128.3 yards per game.

However Virgil Green Jersey , its passing game has sputtered.

Over that same span the Panthers averaged 229.5 passing yards per game, which is the third fewest in the league.

It didn’t help that the Panthers suffered several injuries at wide receiver and tight end this season and traded away No. 1 receiver Kelvin Benjamin.

Newton’s passing numbers have taken a nosedive since he was selected as the league’s MVP in 2015 when he combined for 45 touchdowns – 35 passing and 10 rushing – and led the Panthers to the Super Bowl.

He has posted the worst two quarterback passer ratings of his seven-year NFL career in the past two seasons.

Rivera said he informed Newton about the decision to fire Shula after it was made, but wouldn’t comment on the quarterback’s reaction to the news calling it ”personal.”

This past season, Newton posted a QB rating of 80.7, which ranked 18th in the league. He completed just 59.1 percent of his passes for 3,301 yards with 22 touchdowns and 16 interceptions.

”This is all about growth as a football team, and we have room to grow,” Rivera said.

Shula, the son of Miami Dolphins legend Don Shula, has coached 30 years, 26 of those in the NFL.

Dorsey served as quarterbacks coach from 2013-17 following two seasons as a pro scout.

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