Blue Jays manager John Gibbons called Sunday’s 5-4 walk-off loss to the Boston Red Sox the most frustrating of an already frustrating first half of the season.

Losing is always tough, he said. But when you’re given an opportunity to win and don’t take advantage, those ones hurt the most.

Monday was a different story for Gibbons and the Jays as they made the most of their chances and a strong start from R.A. Dickey, walloping the Detroit Tigers 8-3 in front of an announced sellout crowd of 45,766 on Canada Day at the Rogers Centre.

It was an encouraging win for the banged up Jays, who had just one healthy position player on the bench with both Edwin Encarnacion and Adam Lind nursing day-to-day injuries.

“Team’s beat up and the guys who played today came out and responded in a big way,” a smiling Gibbons said afterward.

Wearing their festive reds, the Jays went 3-for-7 with runners in scoring position compared to just 7-for-31 over their four games in Boston.

J.P. Arencibia, who failed to do any damage with the bases loaded and none out on Sunday, faced a similar opportunity Monday but this time he capitalized, driving a two-run single to left to give the Jays a 4-0 cushion in the third inning.

“He needed that,” Gibbons said. “He’s kind of been the whipping boy, in a lot of ways.”

After a blazing hot start to the season in which he hit eight home runs in the first month while posting an .833 on-base-plus-slugging percentage, Arencibia has mostly slumped in the two months since.

The 27-year-old catcher — designated hitter on Monday with knuckleball-snaring specialist Josh Thole catching Dickey — is often criticized for his propensity to strike out and below-average defence. Monday’s hit was just the second in his last six games and he struck out in his three other plate appearances, but Gibbons still hopes it will help relieve some of the pressure Arencibia is putting on himself. “A hit like that could do wonders.”

Mark DeRosa, playing first base and hitting cleanup with both Encarnacion and Lind out, was also happy to get a monkey off his back. The 38-year-old veteran, who last registered a hit on June 18, hit a three-run opposite-field homer in the fourth inning and the rout was on.

“I was well aware of the fact that I was mired in a pretty good slump . . . ” he said, “but it was nice to hit a tack-on three-run homer to give Dickey and the rest of the bullpen a nice breather.”

Other noteworthy performances included Jose Reyes, who went 3-for-5 in his first game back at the Rogers Centre since spraining his ankle in April and hit his second homer in as many games to lead off the Jays’ four-run third inning. Meanwhile, Rajai Davis continued his recent hot streak, going 2-for-5 with a pair of stolen bases. Heading into the game the speedy outfielder — playing left field while Melky Cabrera is on the disabled list — was hitting .375 with 13 stolen bases over his last 25 games.

Monday’s win marked the first game of the second half of the season for the Jays, who evened their record at 41-41.

“I think we realize what we have to do,” DeRosa said of the team’s hopes of contending for the post-season. “Got to take it one day at a time, the old cliches. But we’re fully aware that 90-92 wins is something that we’re going to have to strive for and it’s going to be a tough task, but this team’s talented enough to do it.”

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