The Toronto Blue Jays return to AL East action after taking three of four against the lowly Philadelphia Phillies.
Their opponent? The Baltimore Orioles, who moved into first place in the AL East after a three-game series victory over the Boston Red Sox.
The Orioles lead the Blue Jays by two games in the standings, but have four games in hand, while Toronto currently sits in the second wild-card spot in the AL.
The Jays took three of four from Baltimore last weekend at the Rogers Centre.
Here’s what to watch for this weekend:
Friday, June 17: 7:05 ET
Aaron Sanchez vs. Mike Wright
Saturday, June 18: 4:05 ET
R.A. Dickey vs. Yovani Gallardo
Sunday, June 19: 1:35 ET
Marcus Stroman vs. TBD
Will Wright eat his words?
Orioles starter Mike Wright, who takes the hill Friday night in Baltimore, raised some eyebrows last weekend when he took a bit of a dig at Blue Jays slugger Edwin Encarnacion. “He’s really good but he’s also got holes. There’s a reason he’s batting .240. I think we give him too much credit,” Wright told Eduardo A. Encina of the Baltimore Sun last Saturday.
The timing was especially strange considering how poorly Wright has fared against Toronto in the past (0-3 with a 7.13 ERA in 17.2 innings) while Encarnacion is in the midst of his most productive stretch of the season. He beat the Orioles last Friday with a walkoff home run (see above) and has mashed six home runs with 14 RBI over his last six games. “Eddie’s locked in pretty good,” Toronto manager John Gibbons told MLB.com this week. “If you give him something to hit, he’s going to hit it.”
It would be fair to assume Encarnacion took note of Wright’s comments and it will be fun to watch the two go head-to-head in the series opener.
No Bautista-O’Day reunion
It won’t be a series full of individual rivalries as Orioles reliever Darren O’Day, a nemesis of Jose Bautista, isn’t expected to appear in this weekend’s series. He was placed on the 15-day DL with a hamstring injury earlier in June and was initially projected to return to the Orioles lineup on Saturday but he has not fully recovered. His timeline still remains unclear at this point, which is the same situation Bautista is in after crashing into the outfield fence in Philadelphia on Thursday. Bautista was diagnosed with left toe soreness and underwent precautionary x-rays. He didn’t speak after Thursday’s game and the team is expected to provide an update prior to Friday’s game.
Bats galore
There should be plenty of runs this weekend as the Blue Jays and Orioles are two of the best offensive teams in baseball. Baltimore leads MLB with 103 home runs in 65 games and ranks fourth in the entire league in OPS (.780). Toronto, last year’s offensive powerhouse, is beginning to hit their stride. The Blue Jays have scored 52 runs in their last six games (an average of 8.6 per game) and homered five times in Thursday’s 13–2 rout. Encarnacion has 15 home runs since May 1 while Mark Trumbo (20), Manny Machado (17), and Chris Davis (16) all rank in the top-10 among MLB home run leaders.
Shaky Orioles starters
While the Orioles have produced one of the league’s best offences and one of the most reliable bullpens, the same cannot be said about their starting pitching. The Orioles’ starters rank 26th in innings pitched (358) and 22nd in ERA (4.78). The club demoted veteran Ubaldo Jimenez to the bullpen following his disastrous start in Toronto last Sunday and have yet to announce who will start Sunday’s game in Baltimore. Jimenez has a 6.89 ERA in 62.2 innings this season. Gallardo, Saturday’s starter, gave Toronto plenty of trouble last season (0.00 ERA) when he was with the Texas Rangers, but the veteran right-hander has not pitched in an MLB game since Apr. 22 due to shoulder tendinitis and recorded a 7.00 ERA in his four starts this season.
How will Stroman fare?
Speaking of shaky starters, Blue Jays pitcher Marcus Stroman snapped out of his recent skid earlier this week, holding Philadelphia to just two runs over seven innings. Prior to facing the NL opponent, Stroman had allowed 25 runs over his last five starts. The Blue Jays’ right-hander was roughed up in his last appearance against Baltimore, allowing four earned runs on eight hits with just two strikeouts in a 6–5 loss in Toronto. Stroman takes the mound Sunday afternoon and is hoping his recent start was a sign of normality rather than a blip against a putrid offence.
Fly with WestJet to cheer on your Toronto Blue Jays™. Check out the schedule and book your flight here.
