So, after taking the opening game of a three-game set against the division rival Rays, the Blue Jays look to continue their winning ways tonight. Yesterday's game was a bit of a nail-biter most of the way but, thanks to some good luck and some solid defence, Kyle Drabek stranded a bunch of runners and the Jays pulled it out.
Toronto is now just one game back of Tampa Bay so they can pull into a tie for second place with a win tonight. Tonight's matchup features two rookie starters, Drew Hutchison starts for the Jays and Matt Moore starts for the Rays. Moore entered the season as a favourite for rookie of the year, but has had some trouble with control (23 BB in 45 innings) and keeping the ball on the ground (33% gb-rate) thus far, struggling to the tune of a 5.20 ERA. The southpaw hasn't had any trouble missing bats (10.8% whiff-rate, two points higher than average) but it seems like patient hitters may be getting the best of him, at least so far. Moore is coming fresh off, possibly, his best start of the season, in which he struck out eight Red Sox batters and walked just one over six innings. Moore's high flyball-rate (48%) suggests that, hopefully, Jose Bautista and the rest of the Jays lefty-mashers might be able to put a charge into one or two pitches send a Jays fan back north with a souvenir.
Today's thread title courtesy of Gang of Four's "At Home He's a Tourist"
Remember, as always:
No talking about illegal streams
No *.gifs until the game is over
Chill