Game #138 Preview: Manoah vs Gil

After another fun win last night, the Blue Jays will look to make it 3 in a row against the Yankees, and 7 in a row overall, as they play game 3 of 4 in Yankee Stadium. Tonight’s game is once again scheduled to get underway at 7:05 ET.

Just as a warning for those watching the Jays’ broadcast today, it is induction day at the Hall of Fame. Larry Walker will become just the second Canadian to go into Cooperstown, but he does so with Derek Jeter, and I’m sure you can guess which one will receive more discussion on the broadcast.

Blue Jays’ Starter

Alek Manoah goes for the Jays, looking to keep his strong rookie campaign going. He is 5-2 with a 3.63 ERA (and his xERA is the same), but he has struggled a bit recently. In two of his last four starts, he has surrendered 6 earned runs, but those do at least sandwich a pair of a really good outings too, maybe helping to alleviate concerns about tiring as the season wears on. With the effects of the exceptionally unusual 2020 season, plus Manoah barely having any career Minor League time, it’s impossible to know how many innings to expect out of him. He’s at 79.1 in the Majors, plus 18.0 in the Minors, so he is probably starting to feel at least some effects from a heavier workload.

Manoah famously made his Major League debut against the Yankees in Yankee Stadium back at the end of May, so far his only experience against them. With his excited mother in the crowd, Manoah had a very memorable debut, allowing just a pair of hits and a pair of walks over 6.0 shutout innings. He struck out 7 batters, including one exceptionally pretty one against Aaron Judge.

Yankees’ Starter

The Yankees will go with an rookier rookie, as Luis Gil will be making just the fourth start of his young career. Through his first 15.2 innings, Gil has already picked up his first Major League win, and has also failed to allow a run. He has allowed 9 hits and 7 walks, with the walks being the big thing that gave him troubles through his Minor League career as well. He has a big arm, averaging 96 mph with his fastball, and has 18 strikeouts so far.

Blue Jays’ Lineup

George Springer was out yesterday with knee problems, and he honestly should be off for a few more days. If that means that Alejandro Kirk is our full time DH, we may not be losing a whole lot. Kirk has been magnificent at the plate this year, and with his big day yesterday of four batted balls over 100 mph, resulting in 2 HR and a single, his xwOBA is up to .394, falling just short of the elite guys like Vladdy and Judge. There is also this:

With Gil also being a righty, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Jake Lamb back at third, and maybe even Reese McGuire behind the plate. With lefty Néstor Cortes Jr. going for the Yankees tomorrow, going with the lefty batting options today makes sense.

Yankees’ Lineup

The Blue Jays’ pitchers have held the Yankees to only singles so far this series, a feat unbeknownst to them in franchise history. In other words, the Yankees have never gone back to back games without an extra base hit or walk. Ever. That’ll probably end today, but still an incredible job by the pitchers. Edit: The YES Network is reporting that the Yankees went back to back games in June 1962 without an extra base hit or a walk. Still, an incredible achievement for the Jays’ staff

With the righty back on the mound for the Jays, the Yankees will be able to trot out their lefties a bit more happily. Joey Gallo sat yesterday, but he’ll be back in there today. Brett Gardner has actually started both games against the lefties, but he’ll be in the lineup today again. Rougned Odor or Tyler Wade potentially get into the game too.

Yesterday’s Heroes

Nelson Cruz had another big game against the Red Sox, this time driving out 2 legitimate home runs while also adding a single and a double while driving in 4 to pick up the Monster Bat award. So far in this series, he is 7-11 with 3 home runs, a double, 6 runs and 7 RBI, and one of those “outs” was an error fueled inside-the-park grand slam. And thanks to his offensive explosion, the Rays once again took down the Red Sox, this time 12-7.

Alex Bregman hit a game tying 2-run home run with 1 out in the 9th inning, forcing the game into extra innings where Carlos Correa walked off the Mariners, giving the Astros the 5-4 win. For Bregman’s part, he gets the WPA King trophy with a .534 mark.

Eric Lauer threw 7 shutout innings yesterday, surrendering 4 hits and a walk while striking out 5 and walking away with the Pitcher of the Day award. He helped his Brewers to the 10-0 win over the Phillies.

Find the Link

Find the link between Joey Gallo and Antonio Bastardo.

Stats retrieved from Fangraphs and Baseball Savant