Well, that was a tough game last night. As Toots Hibbert famously said, sometimes the pressure drops on you. The trick is to bounce back and the Jays can still win a series against a division rival if they prevail tonight. Both teams send youngsters to the bump, with the Tampa Bay looking to Jeremy Hellickson and Toronto looking to wunderkind Henderson Alvarez.
Lineup widget still not working . . .
Tampa Bay
Jennings, CF
Zobrist, RF
C. Pena, 1B
Longoria, 3B
Scott, DH
Joyce, LF
Keppinger, 2B
J. Molina, C
S. Rodriguez, SS
Toronto
Escobar, SS
K. Johnson, 2B
Bautista, RF
Lind, 1B
Encarnacion, DH
Thames, LF
Lawrie, 3B
Rasmus, CF
Arencibia, C
Hellickson's first start was quite solid, though his peripherals were unspectacular (8 2/3 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 4 K, 4 BB). His second start was less so (5 IP, 7 H, 5 R, 1 K, 5 BB). Hellickson lived on hit-suppression last season (.233 BABIP) so the problematic peripherals are nothing new (2011 xFIP: 4.72) -- the mediocre results, on the other hand, he generally managed to avoid (2011 ERA: 2.95). He does have an excuse: he's faced two high-powered offences in New York and Boston. Whether you buy into pitcher hit-suppression or not, there's certainly one thing we can agree on: it will be nice to hand him his first loss off the season tonight. Go Jays Go!
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