The Blue Jays continue their four game series in Baltimore, looking to win their second in a row against the Orioles and fifth overall. Tonight’s game kicks off at 7:05 ET.
Blue Jays’ Starter
The Jays are like to go with an opener today, and I really have no idea who that might be. Derek Law has opened 4 games so far this year, so I guess he’s probably the most likely one to get the first inning. If so, he’ll be looking to improve upon his 5.84 ERA over 37 innings.
After the opener is out, it seems likely that the bulk guy will be Sam Gaviglio. Sammy G started the season really well, but after an April that saw him post an ERA of 0.95 over 19 innings, he has a 6.26 ERA in 50.1 innings since then.
Over 7 innings this season against the Orioles, Gaviglio has done quite well. He has allowed 2 runs on 3 hits, walking none and striking out 9. He allowed a home run to Trey Mancini back in April.
Orioles Starter
The Orioles will turn to big right hander Aaron Brooks, who came over from the Athletics after being DFA’d about a month ago. Brooks will be making his 11th start and 20th appearance overall at the big league level for the A’s and the Orioles, looking to build on an already career high 64.1 innings. He is 2-4 with a 5.46 ERA, and an equally rough 5.55 FIP. The high FIP is driven by a really bad 1.96 HR/FB rate, which if he was anywhere near being qualified, he’d be 3rd from the top. Aside from the home runs, he is at least doing a good job limiting walks (2.52 per 9 innings), while being non-terrible at getting strikeouts (7.27 per 9 innings).
Brooks made a start against the Jays back in April as a member of the A’s, so he didn’t really stand a chance against the Blue Jays. He allowed 5 runs on 6 hits over 5 innings, walking 2 and striking out 5. He allowed a home run against Brandon Drury, his first of the year.
Blue Jays’ Lineup
After taking a ball to the face last night and coming out of the game, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Randal Grichuk at least out of the lineup tonight. He went for tests, and he at least doesn’t have a concussion, but I would imagine he still has a lot of pain.
Lourdes Gurriel Jr., who was held out of the lineup last night, is supposed to be healthy and ready to go for this game too, but I will believe that one when I see it.
Likely making his first start for the Jays is Derek Fisher, who came over in the deadline deal from Houston. He brings his left handed bat and great speed to the lineup, looking to show the Jays and fans that he was worth the acquisition cost.
Orioles’ Lineup
Pedro Severino, who had the night off last night in lieu of Chance Sisco, will likely be back in the lineup in this one.
Jose Rondon, who the Orioles picked up off waivers from the White Sox earlier in the week, hasn’t made it into a game yet, but likely will at some point in this series. He is a speed and defense first infielder, who may or may not hit anywhere near enough to hang on in the Majors.
Otherwise, with just a 3 man bench, the Orioles changes will be fairly limited from their lineup last night.
Yesterday’s Heroes
I would love to give Vladimir Guerrero Jr. the Monster Bat award, but Xander Bogaerts outdid him by adding a single on top of the 2 home runs and the double. He drove in 3 of Boston’s 4 runs, but they fell short of the Rays in a 9-4 defeat.
Former Blue Jays’ farmhand Harold Ramirez picks up the WPA King title after a big game last night. He had a big triple early in the game, and then finished the game off in the 12th with a home run to lead the Marlins to the 5-4 win over Twins. His total WPA on the day was .488.
Jack Flaherty held the Cubs to just 1 hit over 7 shutout innings, walking 2 while striking out 9. He gets the Pitcher of the Day honours as well as the win in the Cardinals’ 8-0 win.
Find the Link
Find the link between Brooks and A.J. Burnett