So, the first two games of this series have not gone as planned. First, the bullpen let us down; the next day it was the lineup. That's baseball, and today the Jays have a chance to strike back and save one game of this series. Kyle Drabek, who brings a 1.38 ERA, 1.08 WHIP, and 12/7 K/BB ratio into today's game will pitch for the Jays, while Jason Vargas goes for Seattle. Drabek has really had his cutter working this season, and has been inducing a ton of ground balls, which is great to see. Vargas isn't anything special, but he tends to limit the walks and his pronounced flyball tendencies are a nice fit for Safeco Field.
Not exactly our A-lineup today. Adam Lind, Aaron Hill, and Travis Snider are all sitting, with Edwin Encarnacion at first, John McDonald at 2nd, and Juan Rivera in left field. Jayson Nix plays third and Jose Molina is behind the dish, as usual, for Drabek's start. J.P. Arencibia gets DH duties. After a couple of tough days after a nice start, it does make sense to give Lind the day off against the lefty, but this lineup really doesn't strike fear.
Today's title comes from the great Alaska/Seattle songwriter John Roderick and his band the Long Winters. The song is called "Not Moving to Portland." More fittingly for the Emerald City, should have been called "Not Moving to Oklahoma City." Oh, snap. / Supersonics'd
Let's go Jays!
Jays:
Yunel Escobar, ss
Corey Patterson, cf
Jose Bautista, rf
Juan Rivera, lf
Jason Nix, 3b
J.P. Arencibia, dh
Edwin Encarnacion, 1b
John McDonald, 2b
Jose Molina, c
Seattle:
Ichiro!, rf
Adam Kennedy, 2b
Milton Bradley, lf
Jack Cust, dh
Justin Smoak, 1b
Ryan Langerhans, cf
Luis Rodriguez, 3b
Brendan Ryan, ss
Chris Gimenez, c