Game #77 Preview: Gaviglio vs Peña

After an exciting win last night, the Blue Jays bid farewell to Mike Trout and the Angels for the season this afternoon as they look to split this 4 game series. Today’s game gets underway at 4:07 ET.

Blue Jays’ Starter

Sam Gaviglio gets the start today, and all indications are that he earned this through his good performance as opposed to attrition. He is 2-2 with a 3.75 ERA on the season, doing a good job limiting walks (2.75 per 9 innings).

Gaviglio hasn’t gone deep into the game his last couple starts. In Tampa on June 11, he allowed 5 runs on 7 hits, and was pulled after allowed a 1 out homer in the 4th. In his last start a week ago, he made it through 4 innings, allowing 3 runs (2 earned) on 6 hits and 6 strikeouts. He had thrown just 77 pitches, but did labour a bit while doing so, and Gibby maybe figured it was time to get him out of the game before things got out of hand. He also had a baby that day, so maybe Gibby told him he had to get out of there and go be a part of that. I like the second theory.

Angels’ Starter

Félix Peña makes his second start for the Angels this year. Peña joined the Angels last October after he was given the DFA treatment from the Cubs. The 28 year old has done a good job, especially in the Majors, of getting swinging misses and strikeouts. Although it’s mostly from the bullpen, the righty carries a very good 10.44 K/9 career rate over his 50 innings.

Peña’s only career start came 5 days ago, when he pitched 4 excellent innings against the Diamondbacks. He allowed 1 run on 2 hits, getting 6 strikeouts but also allowing 3 walks. Since he is still transitioning from the bullpen to the rotation, he threw just 74 pitches. If things are going well for him, don’t be surprised to see it go over that number, but don’t expect him to go deep into the game either.

Blue Jays’ Lineup

Another righty on the mound likely means that yesterday’s hero Steve Pearce will probably be on the bench again, which is might be a better spot than LF at least. Kendrys Morales is probably going to start at DH again, which means that if Gibbons want Pearce or Granderson to play, he would likely have to give the afternoon off to Grichuk or Pillar. It’s kinda fun seeing how Gibby manages all of this.

Luke Maile (#DeliverTheMaile) will catch Gaviglio in this one.

Angels’ Lineup

Mike Trout has started 4 straight games at DH, looking to rest his injured finger, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see him there again.

Ian Kinsler got the day off yesterday, and David Fletcher got the start and had to lead off since that’s the guy he was subbing for. He got a pair of hits at least, unlike Kinsler who is now 0-10 in this series. Kinsler’s season OBP is down to .283, yet he still leads off nearly every game. I’m mad at this, and I’m not even an Angels fan.

Juan Briceno started at catcher yesterday, so look for Martin Maldonado to don the tools the ignorance for today’s game.

Yesterday’s Heroes

Yadier Molina cracked 2 home runs against the Brewers, going 2-4 on the day and driving in all 3 runs in a 3-2 Cardinals win, earning the Monster Bat award.

The WPA King is pretty obvious. Pearce’s big home run was worth .484, but he also flew out pinch hitting in the 7th, so his WPA total for the day was .459.

Mike Leake held the Red Sox scoreless over 8 innings, allowing just 3 hits and a pair of walks to earn the Pitcher of the Day award. The Red Sox scored a couple in the 9th, but not nearly enough as the Mariners came out on top 7-2.

Find the Link

Find the link between Peña and Luke Farrell.