Game #15 Preview: Manoah vs Urquidy

After a great win last night, the Blue Jays will look to make it two in a row over the Astros this afternoon. The gametime today in Houston is 4:10 ET.

Blue Jays’ Starter

Alek Manoah heads to the mound for the Jays, looking to continue his great start to the season. Through his first two starts and 12.0 innings, he has allowed 2 runs on 5 hits including a home run, although there are 6 walks and a bean ball mixed in as well. That comes out to a very sparkly 1.50 ERA, although the FIP, thanks to the walks, is a more reasonable 3.70. I think many of us are expecting him to wind up somewhere between those two numbers when all is said and done. Anything in the low-3.00s for a season ERA would be amazing.

Astros’ Starter

Young right hander José Urquidy gets the ball for the Astros, also making his third start of the season. Through his first two, he has thrown 9 innings total, with a good start and a terrible one mixed in. In his first start against the Angels, he went 5 innings, allowing 1 run on 4 hits and no walks, striking out 2. However, his next time up this past Sunday, he made it through just 4 innings, allowing 6 runs on 8 hits and a walk, striking out 2. These wild game-to-game swings were fairly common in the 20 starts Urquidy made last season as well. The unfortunate thing is that he never had 2 stinkers in a row in 36 game in his career.

Blue Jays’ Lineup

Springer is back in the lineup, his first time in an opposing lineup in Houston.

Astros’ Lineup

Yesterday’s Heroes

Mookie Betts went 2-3 with a pair of home runs and a pair of walks, picking up the Monster Bat award along the way. His big night also helped his Dodgers beat the Padres 6-1, running their record to an MLB-best 10-3.

Starling Marte had a 2-out RBI single in the top of the 10th, helping propel his Mets to the 6-5 extra inning win over the Diamondbacks. Throw in a single to load the bases in the top of the 6th as well, and Marte takes home the WPA King trophy with a .476 mark as his Mets picked up their MLB-best 11th win.

Kyle Wright threw 6 shutout innings, allowing just 4 hits and a walk while striking out 11 to pick up the Pitcher of the Day award. He also picked up the win as his Braves beat the Marlins 3-0.

Find the Link

Find the link between Niko Goodrum and Koji Uehara.

Stats retrieved from Fangraphs and Baseball Savant