Things worth mentioning…

• The Steven Matz Revenge Tour is off to a great start. Matz, one of Pete Walker’s projects, had an excellent debut, going six-and-one-third while allowing just one earned run on two hits and one walk. That earned run really wasn’t on him, either, as Rowdy Tellez botched what should have been a double-play ball. Matz also picked up nine strikeouts, which was more than he had in any of his nine starts last season. Now, of course, the Rangers are really, really bad, so we shouldn’t get too far ahead of ourselves, but, damn, that’s a very encouraging sign from Matz.

• Texas’ reclamation project, Mike Foltynewicz did not have as good of a time as Matz did. The Blue Jays batters made Foltynewicz work extremely hard, as just about everyone was seeing five or six pitches per plate appearance the first time through the order. As a result, Foltynewicz was only able to get through four innings. The Jays kicked the game open in the second inning when Marcus Semien and Cavan Biggio went back-to-back with a couple of bombs. After an ugly start in the Yankees series, it was great to see Biggio square up on a ball. He also drew a couple of walks and got hit by a pitch.

• This post from Keegan Matheson nicely sums up how well the Rangers executed on Monday (though this got ruined when Rafael Dolis allowed a double in the ninth)…

• In some not-so-good news, Danny Jansen got smacked in the part of the leg without any padding by a foul tip and left the game. Let’s hope it isn’t anything major and that Jansen is all good. But, if he isn’t, this is exactly why it was a good thing that Reese McGuire cleared waivers. If Jansen is out, the Jays have a legit MLB back-up catcher available, they would just have to find room for him on the 40-man roster.
• The Blue Jays will look to go to 4-1 on the season tomorrow night when *gulp* Tanner Roark goes up against Dane Dunning. This is the only game in the series in which the Jays don’t have a clear advantage in the pitching match-up. Hopefully the Diesel Engine is revved up.