Blue Jays’ Gurriel Jr. in lineup vs. Rays; Espinal to make MLB debut

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Lourdes Gurriel Jr. will make his season debut for the Toronto Blue Jays on Saturday in the second game of the team’s season-opening series against the Tampa Bay Rays.

Gurriel Jr. was on the bench for the season opener as he had been day-to-day with left-side discomfort after catching a sacrifice fly during an intrasquad game. In 84 games last season, the 26-year-old slashed .277/.327/.541 to go along with 20 home runs and 50 RBI.

Santiago Espinal makes his MLB debut at third base after playing 122 games with double-A New Hampshire and triple-A Buffalo slashing .285/.345/.390 to go along with seven home runs and 71 RBI. Toronto acquired the 25-year-old in the June 2018 trade that sent Steve Pearce to the Boston Red Sox.

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