The Toronto Blue Jays enter this weekend’s series with the Houston Astros with plenty on the line.
The Blue Jays lead the AL East by half a game over the Baltimore Orioles, while the Astros are just two games back of a Wild Card spot.
Toronto took a recent four-game set in Houston, outscoring the Astros by an aggregate score of 10-5 and winning three of four games. Both teams had difficulty at the plate, but have seemed to come around in recent games.
Here’s what to watch for…
Friday, August 12 — 7:07 p.m.
Joe Musgrove vs. Francisco Liriano
Saturday, August 13 — 1:07 p.m.
Collin McHugh vs. Aaron Sanchez
Sunday, August 14 — 1:07 p.m.
Mike Fiers vs. Marcus Stroman
How will Blue Jays fare against Altuve?
He doesn’t get quite the same amount of attention as Mike Trout, but Astros second baseman Jose Altuve is putting up an MVP-calibre season with Houston. Altuve, who has recorded 19 hits and nine RBI in 10 games this month, ranks third in all of baseball with 6.2 wins above replacement, trailing only Trout and Blue Jays third baseman Josh Donaldson. Altuve had six hits in four games against Toronto earlier this season and owns a career batting line of .306/.324/.389 at Rogers Centre.
Liriano makes first home start
Francisco Liriano is scheduled to make his second start with the Blue Jays in the series opener. The veteran lefty allowed three earned runs in six innings with five strikeouts in his Blue Jays debut last Friday against the Royals, getting a no-decision in a 4-3 Toronto victory. It’s much tougher to pitch at Rogers Centre than at Kauffman Stadium, especially for pitchers who tend to give up home runs, so his first start in Toronto will be worth monitoring.
Upton here
With Kevin Pillar and Jose Bautista on the disabled list and Ezequiel Carrera starting a rehab assignment in Buffalo, Melvin Upton Jr. is expected to be an everyday player for the Blue Jays in centre field. Upton offered a glimpse of his potential against the Tampa Bay Rays Wednesday, when he stole three bases after recording a hit and drawing a walk against his former team. The 31-year-old is a reliable defender but needs to show more with the bat on a consistent basis. He is hitting only .114 with a extremely poor .182 on-base percentage since coming over to Toronto in a trade with the San Diego Padres.
No Giles in the bullpen
The Astros will be without their primary closer this weekend as Ken Giles did not travel with the team to Toronto. The 25-year-old instead went back to Houston to be with his wife, who’s expecting their first child. In a corresponding move the Astros are expected to activate Luke Gregerson from the disabled list. The right-hander has a 3.09 ERA with 14 saves in 43.2 innings this season and responded well after throwing a bullpen session on Wednesday.
Sanchez looking to rebound
Aaron Sanchez’s usage is a major talking point across baseball (especially in Toronto and all of Canada) so all of his starts going forward will be watched closely. Sanchez is coming off just his second loss of the season, an outing in which he allowed nine hits and four earned runs in six innings of work while battling occasional command issues.
Sanchez is 11-2 on the season with a 2.85 ERA and 121 strikeouts in 145.1 innings pitched (the metric many fans and team executives will likely focus on at this point in the season).
Sanchez did not pitch when the Blue Jays faced Houston earlier this year.
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