Battle Of The Eastpaws - GameThread - Red Sox @ Blue Jays

By Minor Leaguer Apr 11, 2012, 11:52am EDT

Swing lower, Jose! (Photo by Brad White/Getty Images)

Good afternoon, Bluebird Banterers, I hope everyone had a productive work day this morning, because not much is going to be done this until around 3:30 this afternoon.

Today we are going to have a lefty versus lefty, ace versus ace battle down at the Rogers Centre. The diamond at the dome is actually pointed a couple degrees west of north, which makes lefties really eastpaws rather than southpaws. Pitching for the good guys will be Ricky Romero: he had one very bad inning in the Season Opener in Cleveland last Thursday, and is looking to bounce back against the Red Sox. Romero has not been very good facing the Boston club, carrying a 7.12 ERA and 1.925 WHIP over 13 starts, in which he has surrendered 90 hits, 10 homers, and 29 walks over 67 innings to go along with 58 strikeouts.

Bobby Valentine will send out Johnathan Taylor Lester against the Jays today. Lester pitched well in his debut against the Tigers, throwing 7 innings and only giving up a run on 6 hits and 3 walks. He had to settle for a no decision after receiving no run support. The Bosox eventually lost after their bullpen allowed the Tigers to come back with 3 runs in the late innings. Lester has looked well against the Blue Jays in his career in 18 starts. Over 112 innings, he has a 3.06 ERA and 1.128 WHIP with 106 K against 48 walks. Over those innings he has only given up 8 homers.

The Red Sox will use this lineup for their getaway day: Ellsbury CF, Pedroia 2B, Gonzalez 1B, Youkilis 3B, Ortiz DH, McDonald RF, Ross LF, Aviles SS, Shoppach C. Jarrod Saltalamacchia gets a day off after a night game.

The Blue Jays' line up features Eric Thames against a lefty (!) with Rajai Davis filling in for Colby Rasmus on a scheduled day off. Adam Lind will also be sitting and Ben Francisco (!) will be in the lineup at DH with EE in the field at first: Escobar SS, Johnson 2B, Bautista RF, Encarnacion 1B, Francisco DH, Lawrie 3B, Thames LF, Arencibia C, Davis CF. Hopefully today Jose Bautista can get out of his funk and hit a few long ones to the left field seats.

Jon Lester

#31 / Pitcher / Boston Red Sox

Height: 6-2

Weight: 240

Bats: L

Throws: L

Born: Jan 07, 1984

VERSUS

Ricky Romero

#24 / Pitcher / Toronto Blue Jays

Height: 6-0

Weight: 215

Bats: R

Throws: L

Born: Nov 06, 1984

Current Series

3 game series vs Red Sox @ Rogers Centre

Mon 04/09	WP: Scott Atchison (1 - 0) SV: Alfredo Aceves LP: Sergio Santos (0 - 1)	2 - 4 loss
Tue 04/10	WP: Kyle Drabek (1 - 0) LP: Daniel Bard (0 - 1)	7 - 3 win
Boston Red Sox Over the Monster @ Toronto Blue Jays Bluebird Banter Wednesday, Apr 11, 2012, 12:37 PM EDT Rogers Centre Jon Lester vs Ricky Romero Mostly cloudy,rain. Winds blowing in from left field at 15-20 m.p.h. Game time temperature around 45. Complete Coverage >

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