Game #28 Preview: Gonzales vs Bassitt

The Blue Jays look to complete their sweep of the Mariners and their sweep of the homestand this afternoon, looking to run their winning streak to 7 games. Gametime this afternoon is 1:37 ET.

Blue Jays’ Starter

Chris Bassitt goes for the Jays, making his sixth start as a Blue Jay against the team he has faced the most in his career. This will be his 16th career start against the Mariners, three more than any other opponent thanks to his time with the Athletics. Bassitt did still face the Mariners last year as a member of the Mets, allowing 1 run over 5.2 innings.

On the season for Bassitt, he enters play today with a 3-2 record and a 4.82 ERA. The bulk of the damage there was done in his first start of the season, where he allowed 9 runs over 3.1 innings. In his four starts since then, he has thrown at least 6 innings, never allowing more than 2 earned runs.

Bassitt has had his struggles with command this season. After his first start against the Cardinals when they hit him hard and early and thus didn’t allow a walk, Bassitt has walked 12 batters in 4 starts. He also has 21 strikeouts in those 24.2 innings, a decent rate but below league average and below what he has done throughout his career.

Mariners’ Starter

Soft tossing Marco Gonzales gets the ball for the Mariners, the first lefty starter the Jays will have faced since Shane McClanahan 2 weeks ago. Gonzales has had a good start to the year, entering play with a 2-0 record and a 3.32 ERA. His 3.96 FIP backs up that ERA a bit, thanks to a great job limiting home runs thus far. Gonzales’ career home run rate is about 50% more than he has allowed this year, which probably stands to reason that there will be some correction coming.

Blue Jays’ Lineup

Matt Chapman will be facing a very familiar foe in this one, already with 38 career plate appearances against Gonzales. He is hitting .378/.395/.622 with 1 home run in those matchups.

Danny Jansen gets his first start of the year at DH.

Mariners’ Lineup

coming soon

Yesterday’s Heroes

Miguel Andujar went 4-5 with a pair of home runs and 6 RBI, taking home the Monster Bat award against some pretty stiff competition, although having the double header made it easier for him. With Andujar leading the way, the Pirates swept the double header over the Nationals 6-3 and 16-1.

Nick Fraley hit a 2-out, 2-run double in the top of the 9th, turning a 2-1 deficit into a 3-2 lead, which the Reds’ bullpen managed to hold on to as they beat the Athletics. For his part, Fraley gets the WPA King trophy with a .585 mark.

Despite the offensive show put on by a few teams yesterday, there was also a good race for Pitcher of the Day as well. Four different pitchers did at least as well as the 6.2 scoreless innings thrown by Easton McGee, with Kevin Gausman and Clayton Kershaw also playing bridesmaid to Nathan Eovaldi’s Pitcher of the Day award. Eovaldi went the distance, holding the Yankees to just 3 singles and nothing else while striking out 8. He also picked up the win as the Rangers beat the Yankees 2-0.

Find the Link

Find the link between Marco Gonzales, Justin Verlander, Iván Nova and Eduardo Rodriguez.

Stats retrieved from Fangraphs and Baseball Savanta