After taking two of three from the Atlanta Braves, the Toronto Blue Jays return home for a nine-game homestand, beginning Friday night against the Boston Red Sox.
The Blue Jays enter the homestand with a 3.5-game lead over the New York Yankees atop the AL East while the Red Sox are looking to play spoiler or find silver linings in what’s been a trying season.
Here’s a look ahead at the three-game series against the Red Sox:
Friday, Sept. 18 – 7:07 p.m. ET
Rick Porcello vs. Marcus Stroman
Saturday, Sept. 19 – 4:07 p.m. ET
Wade Miley vs. R.A. Dickey
Sunday, Sept. 20 – 1:07 p.m. ET
TBA vs. Mark Buehrle
Red Sox not an easy opponent: Despite their last-place position in the division, the Red Sox have been tough on the Blue Jays in recent matchups. Boston has defeated Toronto in five of their last seven games, outscoring the Blue Jays 43-34. Over those seven games, the Red Sox surpassed the 10-run mark three different times and the team has been surging offensively.
Since September began, David Ortiz has six home runs with a 1.252 OPS, Dustin Pedroia has three home runs with a 1.212 OPS while Mookie Betts, Xander Bogaerts, and Jackie Bradley Jr. all have an OPS above .859.
Stroman returns to Rogers Centre: Blue Jays starter Marcus Stroman is scheduled to start Friday evening, which will be his first pitching appearance at the Rogers Centre of the 2015 season. Stroman made his season debut last weekend at Yankee Stadium, allowing three earned runs on five hits with two strikeouts and two walks in five innings of work. He showed impressive command and was able to keep the ball down in the zone for the majority of his start.
The enthusiastic 24-year-old couldn’t hold back his excitement to pitch in front of the Blue Jays fans during an interview on Sportsnet 590 The Fan earlier this week. “I got the chills,” Stroman said Wednesday afternoon in a guest appearance on Brady & Walker. “I can’t wait to get back to Toronto and put on the jersey and toe the rubber.
“My first appearance back in The 6. (I’m) more excited for this than Yankee Stadium.”
Martin returning to catch Dickey: The Blue Jays are making some adjustments as they gear up for a potential post-season run. One of those changes will see Russell Martin catch R.A. Dickey for his scheduled start Saturday afternoon. Martin caught the knuckleballer for the majority of the 2015 season, but it the physical toll began to wear on his body so the club brought up Dickey’s longtime catcher Josh Thole to handle the responsibility.
Thole isn’t expected to be on the playoff roster, so Martin is being transitioned back into the role.
“He was beat up,” manager John Gibbons said Thursday on Baseball Central. “He was taking a beating and it wasn’t easy to catch (R.A.). He’s going to have to start catching him if we get into the playoffs.”
Goins, Pennington holding it down: Everyday shortstop Troy Tulowitzki was an undoubtedly a tough loss for the Blue Jays, but the new-look middle infield of Cliff Pennington and Ryan Goins have provided immediate contributions.
The team doesn’t lose much defensively with Goins taking over at shortstop, as evidenced by his ridiculous highlight-reel effort Wednesday against Atlanta, while Pennington has been impressive defensively at second base and is even contributing with his bat, racking up five hits, two home runs and 7 RBI over his last 18 plate appearances.
Scoreboard watching: The Blue Jays would never admit to scoreboard watching, but from a fan’s perspective there’s a lot to monitor this weekend. The Yankees are playing an interleague series against the NL-leading New York Mets. It’s worth noting that the three-game series is taking place at Citi Field, meaning the Yankees will not have a DH so either Alex Rodriguez or surging rookie Greg Bird will not be in the lineup on an everyday basis. That’s meaningful because the Mets boast arguably the best pitching rotation in all of MLB. The Yankees will see Steven Matz, Noah Syndergaard, and Matt Harvey this weekend.
The Blue Jays also trail the Kansas City Royals by just two games for the top seed in the AL. The Royals take on the faltering Detroit Tigers this weekend so gaining ground might prove to be difficult.
