The Detroit Tigers were at Comerica Park earlier than usual for Sunday’s series finale against the Toronto Blue Jays.

The final game of the four-game series began at 11:35 as a part of the MLB’s Sunday Leadoff series in partnership with Roku. The nationally televised game is free to watch on Roku and gives baseball fans a fix during brunch.

The early first pitch pushed up roll call for Tigers players, hours earlier than what’s typical for a normal day game beginning just after 1 p.m.. Players arrived to the park with coffee and breakfast in hand, but not everyone was a fan of the uncharacteristic start time.

“I think whoever schedules an 11:30 a.m. game is a big ole stinker,” reliever Andrew Chafin said Sunday, while eating strips of bacon in front of his locker.

Bacon wasn’t the only thing on the menu for Chafin before the game. He decided to treat himself, outside of the coffee that most players had.

“I had a bagel and a Frosted Flake crusted French toast or some boujee stuff,” he said.

Players said the early start didn’t have much of an impact on their sleeping schedules last night, but couldn’t deny the difference in the atmosphere. Catcher Jake Rogers, a self-described morning guy and the first one dressed in uniform for the game, said it was unique.

“I’m here and I’m ready to go,” Rogers said. “It doesn’t really bother me none, but yeah, it’s definitely different.”

Players went through the typical pregame routines, as they would for any other start: stretching, hitting and taking fielding drills while the sun was still rising over the left field wall and scoreboard at Comerica. The pregame warmups, however, were in a slightly condensed window.

“We only have three hours so I’m just going to hit the cage,” infielder Zach McKinstry said.

The Tigers (25-27) had nearly a full day off after Saturday’s 2-1 win in a day game. Detroit is looking to win three out of four to take the series from Toronto (23-28), which would be its first series win at home since the end of April.

The Tigers are off Monday on Memorial Day, before beginning the next series against the Pittsburgh Pirates in a two-game series at home. An added benefit of the early start Sunday is snagging a few extra hours of rest between games in the marathon 162-game season.

“We are getting to the point of the year where any time you can get quote-unquote ‘extended time off’ from the game or away from the field is a good thing,” Chafin said.

City Connect mojo

The Tigers will wear the alternate City Connect uniforms for the third straight game in the series finale. The Tigers snapped a five-game losing streak Friday while donning the new black-and-blue jerseys introduced two weeks ago.

The City Connect uniforms were initially only supposed to be worn for Friday home games, but the 6-2 win Friday prompted manager A.J. Hinch to ask Rogers if he wanted to wear the uniforms again. Rogers said yes, but first had to text Reese Olson, the starting pitcher Saturday, to conduct a poll. As the starting pitcher, it was ultimately Olson’s final call which uniforms the Tigers would wear.

“I texted Reece, and he was like ‘let’s do it’,” Rogers said head-to-toe in uniform. “That was kind of the poll.

“Then I went to A.J. and told him we are wearing it tomorrow and he said okay. Then we won again yesterday and so here we are again.”

The Tigers are now 3-1 in the City Connect uniforms. The uniforms debuted May 10 against the Houston Astros in a 5-2 loss, but have won every game since then. The first win came the following day against Houston in a game where Kerry Carpenter hit two home runs. The next two wins came this weekend against Toronto, where Carpenter homered in each game as well.

Glove catching up to bat: Detroit Tigers’ Kerry Carpenter is a great hitter, and now a reliable outfielder too

Carpenter is out of the lineup Sunday against Toronto left-hander Yusei Kikuchi, on the bench along with other lefties Riley Greene and Colt Keith.

The players are split on whether or not sticking with the jerseys is a superstition inside the clubhouse. On one end of the spectrum, you have Chafin, who said “every damn thing we do is superstitious whether you say it or not” because that’s just second nature in baseball. McKinstry said he doesn’t believe it’s superstition while saying he doesn’t believe in any.

As for Rogers, it may be too early to make a definitive call.

“I think we’re just winning and having fun with it,” the starting catcher said. “Superstition or not, we are winning with them on.”

The decision to go back to the Motor City uniforms for Sunday was an easy one after Saturday’s win. Hinch didn’t want to mess with the team’s newfound mojo after struggling throughout May coming into the series.

“I don’t know if it’s the reason, but we’re not going to test it,” Hinch told reporters after Saturday’s game.

4Warn Weather – SUNDAY: Mostly sunny skies, a chance of showers and thunderstorms in the afternoon and evening. Some storms could be strong to severe. High: 79. Winds: Southeast 5-15 MPH with gusts as high as 20 MPH.

SUNDAY NIGHT: Mostly cloudy skies, a chance of showers and thunderstorms. Low: 62. Winds: Southeast 5-15 MPH with gusts as high as 20 MPH.

MONDAY: Mostly cloudy skies, a chance of rain showers. A few breaks in the clouds expected in the afternoon and evening. High: 75. Winds: Southeast 10-20 MPH with gusts as high as 20 MPH.

MONDAY NIGHT: Partly cloudy skies. Low: 56. Winds: West 5-15 MPH with gusts as high as 25 MPH.

After a dry start to the weekend with plenty of sunshine after the few showers and thunderstorms on Saturday Morning, we’ve got more chances for showers and thunderstorms in the forecast looking ahead into the end of the weekend.

We will start the day with some sunshine on Sunday, then increase the cloud cover we had through the afternoon and into the evening. Showers and thunderstorms are expected Sunday afternoon into Sunday evening, some of those could be strong to possibly severe.

The Storm Prediction Center has placed most of Southeastern Michigan in a Marginal Risk (1 out of 5) for severe weather on Sunday with Lenawee and Monroe Counties under a Slight Risk (2 out of 5) for severe weather. This risk for severe weather continues further south into the Ohio Valley where an Enhanced Risk (3 out of 5) for severe weather is in place from Missouri into Ohio and Kentucky.

Damaging winds in excess of 60 miles an hour and large hail will be the primary threat, although heavy rainfall will also be possible with some thunderstorms, as well as an isolated tornado could be possible as well. High temperatures heading for the upper 70s to near 80 degrees by Sunday afternoon.

We keep the chance of rain showers and clouds into the forecast. Looking ahead Memorial Day on Monday. High temperatures remaining into the low mid 70s by Monday afternoon.

Then we start to break up the cloud cover, bring a little sunshine into the forecast, but we also keep the chance of rain showers and a few thunderstorms into the forecast as well for Tuesday. High temperatures remaining in the low 70s by Tuesday afternoon.

We will keep the chance of rain showers into the forecast looking ahead to Wednesday, before high-pressure moves into the region and dries us out. Lots of sunshine is expected Thursday and into the end of next week on Friday. High temperatures cooler, in the 60s looking ahead into Wednesday before we warm back into the 70s for the end of next week.

The dry weather sticks around into the start of next weekend on Saturday, partly cloudy skies can be expected. High temperatures heading for the lower 80s before our next chance of rain moves into the region late on Saturday night.

In addition to events to honor the fallen and observe Memorial Day, many people are enjoying the outdoors. Whether you’re grilling in the backyard or grooving at the Movement Music Festival in Detroit’s Hart Plaza this weekend, you will want to be prepared for changing weather conditions.

It will be comfortable and mostly clear as a high-pressure dominates through early Sunday over the Great Lakes region. Temperatures will fall to the lower to mid 50s late Saturday night and early Sunday morning. Winds will be out of the west-northwest at 5 to 10 mph.

Sunday

Expect a sunny start to Sunday, but rain showers and thunderstorms will move into the area during the afternoon and evening. Some of the storms could be strong to severe with gusty winds. Non-thunderstorm winds will be out of the east-southeast at 5 to 15 mph with gusts up to 20 mph. The main window for strong to severe storms will be from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m., but the chance for thunderstorms will last into the overnight hours. The better chance of strong to severe storms will be south of I-69, where there is a marginal (level 1 of 5) risk. Highs will be in the upper 70s.

Plan for showers and thunderstorms on Sunday night, including a risk of severe storms during the late afternoon and evening. Lows will be in the lower to mid 60s.

Memorial Day

We will have a mix of sun and clouds with a chance of rain on Monday. A few spotty showers will be possible from morning through the afternoon, but the chances are low. Some areas will go the day without rain. Outdoors activities should be able to proceed without much disruption from the weather. Temperatures will top out in the lower to mid 70s. Southerly winds will be 10 to 20 mph with gusts up to 30 mph.

Showers and thunderstorms will be possible on Tuesday afternoon and evening. It will be partly cloudy on Wednesday and mostly dry, but there is the chance for a few isolated showers. Highs will only be in the upper 60s and lower 70s as cooler air pushes into the region. Temperatures will rebound toward the end of the week.

Metro Detroit’s normal highs through Memorial Day are 73 to 74 degrees, and the normal lows are 53 to 54 degrees.