TORONTO — Detroit Tigers veteran Mark Canha played 48 games without a home run.

The 35-year-old, who has been struggling on offense for more than two months, snapped the home run drought in the fourth inning of Friday's slugfest against the Toronto Blue Jays at Rogers Centre.

"It felt good," Canha said. "You have those droughts once in a while, and it's nice to finally get one."

The two-run home run from Canha, off right-hander Chris Bassitt, helped the Tigers take down the Blue Jays, 5-4, in Friday's opener of a three-game series (and a seven-game road trip) to kickstart the unofficial second half of the season. Eight of nine runs between the Tigers and Blue Jays were scored on home runs.

The Tigers (48-50) also received a boost from right-hander Jack Flaherty pitching into the sixth inning with eight strikeouts and rookie Wenceel Pérez hitting a home run in the seventh inning.

"It was a hard-fought win," Canha said. "Everyone contributed, and the pitching did great at the end there. It was just good to get back in that competitive mode. We've been doing a great job of winning these close games."

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The Tigers and Blue Jays traded home runs throughout Friday's clash, totaling four homers. The final home run — hit by Blue Jays veteran George Springer — trimmed the Tigers' lead to 5-4 in the eighth inning, but right-handed reliever Jason Foley and left-handed reliever Tyler Holton preserved the one-run advantage in the eighth and ninth innings, respectively.

Holton recorded his third save of the season in as many chances.

The homer party began with Canha in the fourth inning, facing his former teammate. Canha and Bassitt spent most of their careers together with the Oakland Athletics and New York Mets. In their second game against each other, Canha turned on Bassitt's middle-in changeup for a two-run home run to left field.

His big swing put the Tigers ahead, 3-0.

"I wish the All-Star break could've come faster," manager A.J. Hinch said. "We had a lot of fun with him in the dugout. We poked a little fun at him since it's been a while."

Canha hit five home runs in his first 23 games with the Tigers, then hit No. 6 in the Tigers' 39th game, on May 11. The long ball Friday marked the end of a 48-game stretch without a homer.

He entered Friday hitting .202 with a .550 OPS since May 1, a span of 55 games.

"I've been working on a lot of stuff," Canha said. "It was encouraging because you want to see that explosiveness in the swing that I wasn't feeling before the break. I was down in the dumps about it. I didn't feel like I had the whip in my swing that I'm used to feeling. You do that, and you're like, 'OK, there was something wrong.' It's reassuring that we did the right things over the break and got me back."

Before Canha's homer, Riley Greene put the Tigers ahead, 1-0, in the fourth inning with an RBI single to score Matt Vierling, who opened the inning with a double.

Canha finished 1-for-3 with one walk and two strikeouts.

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Jack Flaherty solid despite big swing

Flaherty took a perfect game into the fifth inning.

And the 28-year-old dominated against the Blue Jays until his final pitch with two strikes and two outs in the sixth inning.

"He was really good," Hinch said. "It's too bad that the outing ends the way it does, but it's hard to argue it's not a great outing given all the swings and misses he got, five-plus scoreless before the last swing of his outing. We'll take that every time."

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A big swing from Vladimir Guerrero Jr. spoiled the final line of a brilliant performance from Flaherty, who allowed two runs on three hits and one walk with eight strikeouts across 5⅔ innings. His 98th and final pitch landed in the stands in left field.

Guerrero hit a middle-middle slider from Flaherty for a two-run home run, cutting the Tigers' deficit to 3-2. He crushed the ball 445 feet with a 117.5 mph exit velocity. The homer occurred after Flaherty walked rookie Spencer Horwitz on six pitches.

"You got to finish the sixth there," Flaherty said. "You got two outs, punched the first two guys out, and then a walk, and that's what leads to everything. Just a bad situation to walk a guy in, with nobody on and the lead. One pitch got away. Overall, it was a good job. I'll get on to the next one."

Flaherty continued his dominance as a top trade candidate despite the home run in the sixth. The 28-year-old maintained his 3.13 ERA through his 17th start, and his pitches looked sharp in his second start since returning from a back injury.

The Blue Jays couldn't hit Flaherty's secondary pitches until the mistake to Guerrero.

Before the sixth, the Blue Jays didn't put a runner on base until Bo Bichette's leadoff single in the fifth inning. He won a nine-pitch battle with a single down the first-base line to break up Flaherty's perfect game.

Flaherty stranded two runners in the fifth inning by striking out back-to-back batters. He struck out Alejandro Kirk looking with a fastball painted on the outside edge, then he struck out Ernie Clement swinging with a down-and-away curveball.

"I felt like I threw some good sliders," Flaherty said, who generated a 35.4% whiff rate. "I feel like, overall, I was pulling off a bunch of them. They were better to lefties, and to some of the righties, I threw some really uncompetitive ones in the other batter's box. But the stuff was good. The fastball command went up and down throughout the game. One inning, the fastball was good, and others, it was offspeed. Overall, I just tried to attack hitters and make some good pitches."

More home runs

The Tigers answered the home run in the top of the seventh inning.

Pérez hit a two-run home run — extending the Tigers' lead to 5-2 — over the wall in right-center field with two outs in the bottom of the seventh. He hit a first-pitch sinker to chase Bassitt from his start.

It was Pérez's sixth homer in 2024.

"The bat-to-ball strength is really good with him," Hinch said. "The majority of it is hunting a pitch, taking a game plan into it and getting him not missing it. We'll take the power when it comes, but his decision-making is usually really good in the batter's box, and that helps him."

The Blue Jays, of course, countered the home run from Pérez in the eighth inning with Springer's two-run home run off right-handed reliever Beau Brieske.

Springer turned on a hanging, middle-in changeup.

The homer from Springer trimmed the Tigers' lead to 5-4.

Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him @EvanPetzold.

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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Tigers ride pair of 2-run homers to 5-4 win over Toronto