Game #135 Preview: Irvin vs Ray

The Blue Jays wrap up their series with the Athletics this afternoon, looking to earn their first sweep since they swept the Royals out of the Rogers Centre in the first series there this year. Today’s game gets underway at 1:07 ET.

Blue Jays’ Starter

Robbie Ray gets the ball for the Jays, looking to build on his Cy Young contending season (a good showing from his offense on Tuesday could help just as much if not more than a great start from Ray today). Ray enters the game with a 10-5 record and a 2.71 ERA, currently the best ERA in the AL, as a pair of White Sox starters fall just short of qualifying at the moment (Lance Lynn by just 1 out). Over his 159.1 innings, he has struck out a very impressive 202, the second most in the AL behind Gerrit Cole’s 215.

This will be Ray’s second start against the A’s this year having pitched against them back at the beginning of May in Oakland. In that start, Ray went 6 solid innings, allowing 3 runs on 6 hits and no walks, striking out 9 and allowing 2 home runs - by Ramon Laureano and Matt Chapman. The zero walks in the start for Ray was right in the middle of his early season run of not walking anyone.

Athletics’ Starter

Left hander Cole Irvin will get the start for the A’s, making his 27th of the season. Through 149.0 innings this year, Irvin is 9-12 with a 3.74 ERA. That record combined with that ERA for a pitcher on a good team is kind surprising, but he really isn’t getting the support when he needs it. He has just 3 wins this year when allowing more than 1 run, and in 5 of his losses he has allowed 3 or fewer runs. Just a whole bunch of bad luck for him.

Irvin pitched in the series against the Jays back in early May, and had one of his best starts of the year. In that one, he went 8 innings, allowing just 1 run on 3 hits and a walk, striking out 9. The lone run came in the 6th inning when the Jays managed to string together a couple hits, with Santiago Espinal scoring from first on a Marcus Semien double. Outside of that, Irvin complete dominated the Jays’ bats.

Blue Jays’ Lineup

Athletics’ Lineup

Yesterday’s Heroes

Kyle Seager went 2-5 with a pair of home runs, driving in 6 runs to pick up the Monster Bat award. He helped his Mariners to the 8-5 win over the Diamondbacks, as they pulled into a tie with the Athletics.

Lewis Brinson hit a huge 2-out, 2-run home run in the bottom of the 8th, giving his Marlins the 3-2 win that they would ultimately hold on to as they beat the Phillies. Brinson’s home run earns him the WPA King trophy with a .610 mark.

There were shockingly two 9-inning complete games in baseball yesterday, so despite José Suarez’s efforts allowing 1 run over 9 great innings against the Rangers, the Pitcher of the Day goes to Adrian Houser. Houser held the Cardinals off the board for the first complete game shutout of his career. He allowed just 3 hits and no walks while striking out 7, and his Brewers beat the Cardinals 4-0.

Find the Link

Find the link between Matt Chapman, Alex Gordon and Adrián Beltré.

Stats retrieved from Fangraphs and Baseball Savant