Sunday, September 9th - St. Petersburg, FL
1:40 PM (EDT)
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Toronto Blue Jays Vernon Wells cf Reed Johnson lf Alexis Rios rf Frank Thomas dh Matt Stairs 1b Troy Glaus 3b Aaron Hill 2b Greg Zaun c John Macdonald ss Pitching: Jesse Litsch, RHP |
Tampa Bay Rays Akinori Iwamura 3b Carl Crawford lf Carlos Pena 1b B.J. Upton dh Delmon Young cf Brendan Harris 2b Jonny Gomes rf Dioner Navarro c Josh Wilson ss Pitching: James Shields, RHP |
After a heartbreaking loss last night in which A.J. Burnett was again deprived of a much-deserved win, the Jays try to at least salvage the series win over Tampa.
Jesse Litsch, whose ERA has crept above 4, opposes James Shields, who has been one of the better Tampa pitchers so far this season. Shields' peripherals are fantastic (174/24 K/BB) and it is likely that only Tampa's horrendous defense (last in MLB in defensive efficiency) has prevented him from an even more impressive looking season.
Sparky gets the start in left today, as Stairs takes first for Overbay, who has been brutal for the past couple of weeks. B.J. Upton, the hero of last night off the bench, returns to the starting lineup as DH after fouling a ball off his foot on Friday.