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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 , 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, 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, 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.

Welcome back, Buffalo. You, too, Jacksonville and Tennessee. It’s been a while, Los Angeles.

The NFL playoffs open this weekend with a few teams – and cities – that have been merely spectators in January for years.

The Bills (9-7) are, of course, the poster boys of postseason dreaming, earning their first playoff appearance since 1999 and ending a 17-year absence that was the longest for any team in the four major North American sports leagues.

”It definitely was a goal of ours, but it doesn’t just stop here,” quarterback Tyrod Taylor said. ”We’re excited to be in this position and we have a great opportunity in front of us.”

They also have the Jaguars (10-6) standing in their way. Jacksonville is in the playoffs for the first time since the 2007 season, and won its first division title since 1999.

The Bills also will see a familiar face Sunday leading the other sideline in coach Doug Marrone, who was Buffalo’s head coach from 2013-14.

”For me, obviously the past is past,” Marrone said. ”They have earned it as well as we have earned it. My focus obviously is going to be on our football team. It’s as easy as that for me.”

Football fans in Los Angeles haven’t been able to watch a home team in the postseason since the Raiders beat Denver on Jan. 9, 1994, at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum – site of Saturday night’s showdown between the Rams (11-5) and the defending NFC champion Atlanta Falcons (10-6).

The Rams haven’t hosted a playoff game since 1986 , before 31-year-old coach Sean McVay was even born. McVay is now the youngest coach to make the postseason.

”Until you take a step back (to see) what this team has done such a nice job with, you can’t fully appreciate the journey,” McVay said. ”You try to, every now and then, enjoy it and not get so caught up in the moment that you can’t enjoy the experiences as you’re going on that journey.”

The Titans (9-7) last made the playoffs back in the 2008 season , when Jeff Fisher was coach. Nine years later, it’ll be coach Mike Mularkey and quarterback Marcus Mariota leading Tennessee into Kansas City on Saturday against Andy Reid’s playoff-tested Chiefs (10-6).

”It’s been a long time coming,” tight end Delanie Walker said. ”We thought that at the beginning: if we get in, we can go all the way. That’s our mindset and that’s how we’re going to play.”

Tennessee at Kansas City

The Titans lost three in a row before beating Jacksonville in their regular-season finale to get into the playoffs. Now, they’ll try to win their first postseason game since beating Baltimore on Jan. 3, 2004.

Tennessee allowed only 88.8 yards rushing per game, but will have a tough task against Chiefs rookie Kareem Hunt, who led the NFL with 1,327 yards on the ground.

Kansas City has won four straight after a four-game skid that put their playoff hopes in doubt. But the Chiefs haven’t won a postseason game at home since topping Pittsburgh in January 1994.

”We completed the first step and now it’s on to the second one, which is winning this game,” quarterback Alex Smith said. ”It’s tough to add any more motivation with historic streaks or things like that.”

Atlanta at Los Angeles

The Rams have been one of the NFL’s best stories all season , with McVay leading an impressive turnaround – in the standings and with quarterback Jared Goff.

The franchise’s return to Los Angeles last year was hardly a happy homecoming with a 4-12 record, but things certainly changed in a hurry. Goff went from being a somewhat disappointing No. 1 overall pick to leading the league’s No. 1 scoring offense.

Running back Todd Gurley’s re-emergence as one of the NFL’s most dynamic and dangerous players has certainly been key. He finished second in the league with 1,305 yards rushing and had an NFL-leading 13 TD runs to go along with six TD receptions.

While this is all new for the Rams, Dan Quinn’s Falcons will lean on their experience with Matt Ryan, Julio Jones and Co. trying to make a second straight run to the Super Bowl.

”We’ve been tested,” Quinn said. ”I thought we’ve come through the fires to the other side together as one brotherhood. We’re battle ready.”

Buffalo at Jacksonville

After lengthy playoff droughts, one thing is for sure: either the Bills or Jaguars will get at least as far as the second round.

This is the first time since 1999 that Jacksonville is hosting a postseason game, and fans are fired up. Tickets went quickly and the team received permission to remove tarps covering four sections of seats in the upper deck to create 3,501 additional seats at EverBank Field.

”It’s good for both organizations,” said Jaguars linebacker Paul Posluszny, who spent his first four seasons with the Bills. ”It’s good for the NFL to have two teams that haven’t been to the playoffs in a long time to have the opportunity to play.”

The Jaguars had the second-ranked overall defense in the league, with a ferocious pass rush that produced a franchise-record 55 sacks.

Taylor and the Bills might have to try to make things happen against that unit without running back LeSean McCoy, who was considered day to day after being carted off the field last Sunday against Miami with an injured right ankle.

”This team thrives off adversity,” Bills guard Richie Incognito said. ”It thrives off neg

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