"Old-school baseball": Blue Jays forced to ditch tech after power outage

The Toronto Blue Jays had a bit of a throwback Thursday when facing off against the Detroit Tigers.

No, they weren’t wearing retro uniforms, but they were forced to go without any additional technology — such as iPads in the dugout or in-game replays — due to a power outage at Comerica Park, via MLB Network’s Jon Morosi.

And while they started the day slow with just one run through the first six innings, Toronto scored eight runs over the final three innings to win the contest by a 9-1 score.

It was just the fifth time this season they’ve managed to end up with nine or more runs, and one of just 10 times all year they’ve hit the six-run mark in a game.

“I think it helped us,” Blue Jays outfielder Daulton Varsho said, as per Morosi. “It goes back to old-school baseball.”

The Blue Jays and Tigers didn't have the use of replays or dugout iPads for most of Thursday's game.

Toronto scored 9 runs.

"I think it helped us," Daulton Varsho said, when asked about the absence of technology. "It goes back to old-school baseball."

A lesson there,…

— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) May 24, 2024

The Jays weren’t the only ones forced to change their approach to the game.

Sportsnet’s broadcast was not ready to start the game, with Dan Shulman and Joe Siddall forced to call several innings of the action via their cell phones due to the outage also affecting the broadcast equipment.

“We just tried to have fun with it. What could you do?” Shulman said in a radio interview with Sportsnet’s Fan 590 this morning.

"We just tried to have fun with it. What could you do?"

Dan Shulman shares his perspective of last night's power outage in Detroit with @BlakeMurphyODC. #TOTHECORE

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The win was Toronto’s fourth in the last five games, a rare run for a team that still sits in last place in the American League East with a 23-26 record.

But if they’re going to turn their season around, this week seems like as good a time as any.

The Jays made headlines earlier this week when they brought back their home run jacket, which had been a part of the 2021 and 2022 seasons but was absent in 2023.

We’ll see if the team can keep riding the high of this week’s good vibes when they return for the second game of the series in Detroit. Alek Manoah will be on the mound for Toronto, while Matt Manning will be getting the call for Detroit, with first pitch set for 6:40 pm ET.

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