Two surging AL East ball clubs — Tampa Bay and Toronto — will start a three-game set Monday, when the Rays head to the Rogers Centre to battle the Blue Jays. The Rays are coming off a huge three-game sweep of the Boston Red Sox, which culminated in a bench clearing scrum Sunday, and four consecutive wins overall (5-5 over their last 10). Meanwhile, the Blue Jays are on a six game winning streak (9-1 over their last 10), thanks to a pair of series’ sweeps against the Red Sox and Athletics.
The Blue Jays have been fairly long ball happy of late, mashing 20 homers in the last 14-games — eight of which are credited to Edwin Encarnacion, who leads the team in home runs at 14, and RBI at 40. Jose Bautista isn’t far behind, with 12 homers of his own, and 34 runs batted in.
The Rays will throw Erik Bedard and Alex Cobb on the mound in the front two games of the series. “What is so special about them?” you may be asking. Bedard, who has given up only one home run since September of 2013, has done an excellent job of coaxing weak contact out of opposing hitters, while Cobb — with a career 23.4% fly-ball rate, and a 4.3% HR/FB –doesn’t give up many fly balls, much less home runs. To that end, Chris Archer looks to be coming out of his funk, and none too soon.
Drew Hutchison: The Rays last faced Hutchison in April, and they were three-hit by the 23 year-old mid-90’s fastball/changeup/mid-80’s slider throwing LHP, in a 4-2 loss at the Trop. Since then, Hutchison has gone 2-3, with the Blue Jays winning five of the 10 games he’s started — including a nine inning, two hit gem against the Rangers on May 16th. Key match ups: Yunel Escobar (1-2), Desmond Jennings (1-1, 2B, BB), Matt Joyce (1-4, BB).
Mark Buehrle: Suffice it to say, the soft tossing Buehrle has fared very well since he blanked the Rays on April 2, going 7-1 with an overall 2.16 ERA. The Blue Jays are 10-1 with Buehrle on the mound. Don’t count on a high scoring game with he on the mound for Toronto, and Alex Cobb on the mound for the Rays. Key match ups: Yunel Escobar (5-16, 2B, RBI, 2 BB), Logan Forsythe (2-3, 2B), Ryan Hanigan (2-8, BB), Desmond Jennings (6-15, RBI, 3 BB), James Loney (5-18, 2 BB), Evan Longoria (9-28, 2 2B, HR, 5 RBI, 3 BB), Jose Molina (10-28, 2B, HR, 2 RBI, 4 BB), Sean Rodriguez (6-22, 2 2B, 2 RBI).
Liam Hendriks: The Rays last faced Hendriks when he was a member of the Minnesota Twins. He is described as having a fastball that isn’t a blazer, sitting at 87-92 MPH and averaging around 90, which he mixes with a curveball, slider, and change up — giving him a four pitch arsenal. The changeup is probably his best pitch, but both breaking balls are respectable, and all of his pitches play up due to good command. Key match ups: Desmond Jennings (1-3), Matt Joyce (2-2, HR, RBI), Evan Longoria (1-2, HR, 2 RBI, BB), Sean Rodriguez (1-2).
Noteworthiness
- The season series is tied at 2-2, while the Rays lead 149-131 overall, and the Jays lead 75-64 at Rogers Centre.
- The Blue Jays have tallied an extra-base hit in 36 straight games and homered in 27 of their last 32 contests, including each of the last eight.
- Toronto leads the majors with 69 home runs, 14 from 1B Edwin Encarnacion, second in the AL. RF Jose Bautista is second in the AL with 42 walks and is near the top in runs (37), on-base percentage (.429) and homers (12). SS Jose Reyes stole three bases Sunday, a feat he hadn’t accomplished since 2008.
- The Jays are 25-3 when leading after seven innings and 0-18 when trailing through seven.
- …And since we’re a mere four days away from our watch party this Friday, I’m compelled to mention something about it every day this week. We sincerely hope that each and every one of you can make it out!
