Friday, August 31 - Toronto, Ontario
7:07 PM (EDT)
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Seattle Mariners Ichiro! cf Jose Vidro 2b Jose Guillen rf Raul Ibanez dh Adrian Beltre 3b Ben Broussard 1b Kenji Johjima c Adam Jones lf Yunieski Betancourt ss Pitching: Jarrod Washburn, RHP |
Toronto Blue Jays Vernon Wells cf Reed Johnson lf Alexis Rios rf Frank Thomas dh Troy Glaus 3b Aaron Hill 2b Lyle Overbay 1b Greg Zaun c John McDonald ss Pitching: Shaun Marcum, RHP |
After a tough ending to the getaway game that saw the Jays conclude a 4-3 roadtrip, the Jays return home to T.O. to take on the Seattle Mariners, who are battling for a playoff spot (if we lose, at least we have the consolation that we're making it harder for the Yankees to make the playoffs.) Seattle is reeling, having lost its last 6 games, the final one coming on a walk-off walk.
Marcum take the hill for the Jays. After a fantastic start, Marcum is showing no signs of slowing, having won 6 of his last 7 starts. Although Shaun only struck out 1 in his last start, a 6 inning, 2 run win against the Angels, he has otherwise had good K numbers in August and has not walked more than 2 batters in his last 12 consecutive starts.
As for the M's, they send out lefty Jarrod Washburn. Washburn has been respectable this season. To counter J-Rod, the Jays send out the lefty-mashing lineup, with Overbay in the 7-hole the only lefty. Wells bats leadoff, and I can't really fault Gibbons for batting Sparky 2 against a lefty considering his OPS against them is 1.020 this season, albeit in a limited sample size (only 53 AB).
In other news, your friends at Bluebird Banter are now the proud sponsors of the Roy Halladay and Tek Janssen Baseball Reference pages (although, for some reason, we don't yet appear at the site, perhaps we will by the time you click over though). Baseball Reference is an amazing site and their data has helped us immensely, so it is good to be able to give back. Sponsoring Doc and Our Hero seemed like a great way to start. We'd like to sponsor some up-and-coming Jays as well, so let's have some nominations.
Let's go Jays!