The Toronto Blue Jays’ weekend series against the Kansas City Royals had it all: dramatic home runs, tempers flaring and a walk-off win, all within a playoff atmosphere at Rogers Centre. The Minnesota Twins have a lot to live up to.
Here’s a look ahead at the upcoming four-game Blue Jays-Twins series:
Monday, August 3 – 1:07 p.m. ET
David Price vs. Ervin Santana
Tuesday, August 4 – 7:07 p.m. ET
Marco Estrada vs. Phil Hughes
Wednesday, August 5 – 7:07 p.m. ET
Drew Hutchison vs. Tyler Duffey
Thursday, August 6 – 7:07 p.m. ET
Mark Buehrle vs. Kyle Gibson
Price debuts
David Price makes his Blue Jays debut Monday, but facing the Twins is nothing new for the former Detroit Tigers starter. In 23 innings against the Twins this year, Price has allowed just three earned runs while striking out 20.
If the rotation stays on schedule for the next couple of weeks, the left-hander’s next two starts will come against another familiar opponent: the New York Yankees.
Playoff implications
The 54-52 Blue Jays trail the Twins by just 1.0 game in the Wild Card race, which means they have the chance to pass Minnesota in the standings by winning three of four or sweeping the series.
Thanks to the series win against the Royals, the Blue Jays have a 56 percent chance of reaching the playoffs, according to Baseball Prospectus’ playoff odds. Meanwhile, the Twins have just a 17 percent chance of qualifying thanks to those same odds, which take into account strength of schedule and roster.
Different differentials
The Blue Jays lead the American League with a plus-106 run differential, meaning they’ve out-scored their opponents by 106 runs. The Twins actually have a minus-two run differential because they’ve been out-scored by the opposition so far this season. Minnesota’s the only one of the 10 teams currently in playoff position with a negative run differential.
Quietly productive
Brian Dozier hit his 23rd home run of the season for the Twins Sunday, building on another quietly productive season.
The 2015 All-Star leads all big league second baseman in home runs and his .835 OPS ranks second to Jason Kipnis of the Cleveland Indians.
Colabello delivering
When the Blue Jays claimed Chris Colabello off of waivers from the Twins at the 2014 Winter Meetings, he was viewed as a depth addition likely destined for triple-A Buffalo. Colabello did start the season with the Bisons, but he’s been a valuable offensive player since debuting with Toronto on May 5. In 257 plate appearances, the 31-year-old has 10 home runs with an .854 OPS, making him one of the most productive waiver claims made under Alex Anthopoulos.
