Game Threat: Looking for a series win, Blue Jays (39-32) vs Orioles (39-28)

After the fireworks in the series opener, and, well, all of last weekend pretty much, yesterday afternoon’s game felt like a real snoozer. Maybe it’s because the game was at the ugly start time of 4:00 pm. Maybe it’s because the Jays weren’t able to solve junk-baller Yovani Gallardo and ultimately dropped the game. Maybe it was both. Regardless, that game sucked. And fuck Baltimore (I feel like this is a running theme regardless of the outcome of the game). 

R.A. Dickey allowed two runs in the first inning after back-to-back doubles and a passed ball by Josh Thole, but then settled down and ultimately threw six innings, allowing three earned runs on seven hits and two walks. It wasn’t fantastic, but the way the bats had been going, it probably should have been good enough. 

Speaking of the offence, there were certainly chances to break through and score, but the bats failed to pick up a big hit and blow the game open. The Jays had seven hits and six walks over the course of the game, and threatened with runners in scoring position multiple times, but their only runs came on a Zeke Carrera home run, and a Devon Travis double that he tried to turn into a triple. 

All in all it was a pretty dull game. Dickey was decent. The bats were quiet. Baltimore won. Bleh. 

Just in case you’re still worried about that Bob McCown rumour..

According to MLB Trade Rumours, the Blue Jays could have interest in Padres outfielder Jon Jay, who’s slashing .299/.345/.410. I guess as a replacement for Jose Bautista if his DL stint ends up being longer than expected? I don’t know? 

And I talked about this yesterday, and I figured I would do so again because there isn’t, like, anything positive in this post otherwise. Drew Hutchison has been excellent in Triple-A, as he tossed six innings of shutout ball yesterday while striking out ten, lowering his season ERA to 2.87. 

Marcus Stroman had a pretty excellent start earlier this week against the Phillies, now let’s see if he can pitch well against a real Major League Baseball lineup. Because when you look at his last seven starts, he was hammered in five of them, and he was good in two of them, but those two were against Minnesota and Philly. And his last time out against Baltimore, he was tagged for four earned runs over five-and-a-third while getting pounded for eight hits. 

Manny Machado will begin serving his four-game suspension today, which is great, because iBaltimore’s lineup looks quite a bit worse without him in it. I mean, yeah, it’s still good, obviously, but Machado really is the catalyst of their offence. And Chris Tillman, who’s been weirdly and surprisingly effective this year will get the start. Tillman does allow his fair share of contact, and in the past, the Jays have hammered him pretty hard, so hopefully he starts pitching like the junk-baller we know and love today.